For some years I've heard some people in a village near the city of Évora (Alentejo, Portugal) talking about vipers near the village. I wasn't sure if what they said was true. It could be another species and those people could think it was a viper... One day an old man told me some years ago his dog was bitten by a snake and died. He said it was a small snake with a "nail" in the snout. It was clear to me that it was a Vipera latastei! Unfortunately I didn't asked for a precise location. Some years passed... After hearing more people I had some clues to the location of the viper population, but I wasn't sure. Made some trips but nothing! Then, a friend of me told me about a man who told him he knew where the vipers occur and he caught some vipers some years ago! After some time I visited this man. He was very friendly and he liked the vipers! He knew about a lot of animals. And he drew me a map of the vipers location! After 10 trips or more to that place, in 17-06-2011 I finally found a viper! I was so happy! This is a new location for the species! It wasn't known for this area! I always took gloves with me in these trips. This was the only time I didn't took gloves with me! I grabbed the viper by the tail. She never tried to bite me and was very calm. It was 21 cm long. I took a sample from a scale to send for a genetic analysis (after I took the sample I released the viper in the same exact place where I found her). It was used for a study on this species. I think it's almost complete and I think it will change what we know about Vipera latastei subspecies.

I don't know if it is because it was such an important finding to me, but I think this is the most beautiful Vipera latastei I've ever seen! What do you think? Enjoy the pictures!