Here's my Grass Snake featured with a few more of my NW models (Purple Emperor Butterflies & Spiny Elm Caterpillar). The grass snake is widely distributed in mainland Europe, ranging from mid Scandinavia to southern Italy. It is also found in the Middle East and northwestern Africa. Well-known literary works based on these traditions include Lithuanian folk tale Eglė the Queen of Serpents and the Latvian folk fairytale "The snake's bride" feature the grass snake. Today, many Latvians and Lithuanians believe that grass snakes bring good luck and protect the home. One tradition is to put a bowl of milk near a snake's place of residence, although there is no evidence of a grass snake ever drinking milk. Driven by late 19th century and 20th century Romantic nationalism, grass snake motifs in Latvia have come to symbolize education and wisdom, and are common ornaments in the military, folk dance groups and education logos and insignia. In Denmark, it is protected, as all five species of reptiles were protected in 1981. Two of the subspecies are considered critically endangered: N. n. cetti (Sardinian grass snake) and N. n. schweizeri.