The Confederation Helvetica offers the perfect natural habitat for these seldom seen creatures. Rarely do they venture from the safety of their burrows in intemperate weather. During hard winter months it’s hard to imagine they are indigenous to this region at all.  But no sooner does direct sunlight appear than the serpents are out of their lairs, gliding their low bellies along the warm veins of asphalt from which they seem to derive tremendous vitality. Patient observers must have camera in hand as they seem to vanish in a flash. The lucky traveler may happen upon them as they drink their fill at the occasional petrol springs that dot Switzerland's landscape. We must be sensitive to the needs of these gentle powerful creatures and seek to protect them from the continuing encroachment of man on their open spaces and habitats, or they may vanish forever.