A few days ago we met an English couple who were renting a holiday house here in our village. The couple told us that they’d clambered down the rocky slope to the river Magra near the ponte medievale (Medieval bridge), and whilst pushing their way through brambles they had been confronted by an enormous two meter long snake. They told their story to some of the villagers who promptly identified the serpente (snake) as una vipera (a viper), and explained that it was a well known fact that vipere were thrown from helicopters and set loose in the environment.

Va bene, firstly, just to set the record straight: L’aspide, o vipera (Vipera aspis, Linnaeus, 1758) è un serpente della famiglia Viperidae, diffuso in Europa occidentale. Descrizione: Lunga al massimo 94 cm, mediamente sui 60-65 cm. (The asp, or viper (Vipera aspis, Linnaeus, 1758) is a snake belonging to the family Viperidae, found throughout western Europe. Description: Maximum length 94 cm, average 60 – 65 cm.) In other words a 2 meter long vipera does not exist here in Italy. There are, on the other hand, snakes such as the frustone – whip snake, and verdone – grass snake that do grow to 2 meters, and in fact the description given to me by the English couple told me that it was a verdone, which although aggressive is not poisonous.

Now onto the famous much cited lancio di vipere da elicotteri (vipers thrown from helicopters), which for many Italians, especially the contadini (peasants), is an unquestionable fact!

The thesis behind the story is that vipers are thrown from helicopters by environmentalists who’s aim it is to increase the population of these creatures.

La diffusione della storia – How the story spread

This story is in fact an urban legend which has no basis in reality. It first came to light in France during the 1970’s and from there it gradually spread south into Switzerland and Piedmont arriving in Italia centrosettentrionale (central northern Italy) in the 90’s. In the last few years it has also made its way into Italia centromeridionale (central southern Italy). This legend has become so firmly rooted in popular culture that anyone disputing it is immediately labeled as un bugiardo (a liar).

Le varianti – The variations

There are a number of variations to the story regarding the method of dispersing the vipers, the means of transport used to carry them, and the responsible parties:

Imballaggio: – Packaging:

• in scatole di cartone paracadutate (maggiormente diffusa);
• parachuted in cardboard boxes  (most widespread);
• in sacchetti di plastica paracadutati;
• parachuted in plastic bags;
• in sacchetti di plastica contenenti acqua paracadutati;
• parachuted in plastic bags containing water;
• contenitori ovoidali che si aprono all’impatto col suolo;
• in egg shaped containers that open on impact with the soil;
• sfuse, con la conseguenza che l’impatto le stordirebbe e verrebbero in gran parte mangiate da rapaci;
• loose, with the result that the impact stuns them and they are mostly eaten by predators;
• in pacchetti ammortizzanti recanti la scritta: “Maneggiare con guanti e forare prima del lancio”.
• in cushioned packets bearing the message: “Wear gloves when handling and hole prior to launching”.

Trasporto: –Transport

• elicotteri;
• helicopters;
• aerei leggeri;
• light aircraft;
• furgoni.
• vans.

Autori: Perpetrators

• Guardia Forestale;
• Forest Guards;
• Verdi;
• The Green Party;
• WWF;
• World Wildlife Fund;
• case farmaceutiche, allo scopo di prelevare poi il veleno a fini medicinali;
• pharmaceutical companies, in order to then withdraw the venom for medical purposes;
• esperti raccoglitori di funghi, intenzionati a tenere lontani i “dilettanti” o i roditori;
• experienced mushroom pickers, determined to keep out “amateurs” or rodents;
• cacciatori, per tenere lontani i turisti.
• hunters, to keep away the tourists.

This legend is sometimes amalgamated with other Italian wildlife myths. One popular line of reasoning concludes: the vipers are parachuted from helicopters in order to get rid of the rodents that destroy the precious funghi (wild mushrooms). Cinghiali (wild boars) are then introduced to keep down the viper population, but the wild boars breed with local maiali (pigs) producing a monster race of wild pig. Hence lupi (wolves) are introduced to kill the cinghiali, e così via… (and so on…)

The moral of this tale: don’t believe everything you’re told by the locals. Remember: these days we have the internet, which makes doing some serious research a lot easier … and, of course, you have my blogs!

In the next few blogs we’ll have a look at some of the fauna that you might encounter here in Italy.