[inconsistent][citation needed] Z. situla is found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Turkey, Ukraine, and possibly Cyprus.

[1] The leopard snake is gray or tan with a dorsal series of reddish or brown transverse blotches, which have black borders.

On each side is a series of smaller black spots, alternating with the dorsal blotches.

There is a Y-shaped dark marking on the occiput and nape, a crescent-shaped black band from eye to eye across the prefrontals, and a black band from the postoculars diagonally to the corner of the mouth.

[2] Natural habitats of the European ratsnake are Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, pastureland, plantations, and rural gardens.