Go wild in the country

where snakes in the grass are absolutely free *

While tidying up the pizza oven at our Hovel-in-the-Hills™ I heard a thump and was surprised to see a slightly stunned snake which had obviously just fallen off the roof gutter:

It started to head towards the house and did not seem interested in being stampeded away so I got a long stick and gently relocated it to the other side of the strada bianca and over the wall.

Subsequent googling shows it to be a Zamenis situla or Leopard Snake. But none of the sites tell me whether it is dangerous or not although one site said the Greeks regard it as a good omen because it keeps the rodent population down. Time to learn a little herpes identification, methinks.

* Go wild in the country by Bow Wow Wow.