Already a snake. Lifestyle and habitat

Water already - the closest relative common grass snake, but he prefers wetter and warm places a habitat.

The sizes of these two species are almost the same. The largest recorded water already reached a length of 1.5 meters.

In water snakes, the shields on the head are located a little differently than in ordinary snakes.

In addition, the water snake has a different color: there are no yellow spots on the back of the head, the pattern on the back is not the same as that of an ordinary snake, and the belly is orange-yellow or pink-red. The general color is brownish or greenish-gray, most often spots or transverse narrow stripes of a dark shade pass along it in a checkerboard pattern. Sometimes longitudinal stripes form from the spots. There are individuals with a single color that do not have a pattern, in addition, there are completely black water snakes - melanists.

Where do water snakes live?

Representatives of the species are found in Europe only in the southern, eastern or central parts. Also, water snakes live in the Caucasus, in Malaya and Central Asia, in China and western India. In our country, they are well-known residents of the Ciscaucasia and the Southern Volga region.

Water snakes are rarely found far from water; it is in water bodies that they spend most of the season. These snakes live on the shores of lakes, ponds, rivers and even seas. In addition, they are found in artificial channels, fish ponds and reservoirs. Preference is given to warm open water bodies with stagnant water or with a small current, but they can also live in cool mountain channels. In the mountains, water snakes are found at altitudes up to 3000 meters.

Since snakes feed in water, they are found in reservoirs with clear water, and polluted ones are avoided. Favorite places their pastime is flat stones along the banks or branches inclined to the water. Snakes are excellent at swimming, and not only on the surface of the water, but also at depth. They can swim from the shore for a distance of up to 5 kilometers, while they can swim against the current. Also, these snakes climb bushes and trees well, they can often be found in the crowns of plants growing near water.

Water snake lifestyle

Water snakes are active during daylight hours, and spend the night under stones lying on the shore, in depressions and burrows of other animals. They also crawl into dense vegetation or hay. Great amount water snakes accumulate at night in the thickets of reeds. In cool weather, they are slow, crawl out into sunny areas and bask there. When warm, they plunge into the water and go hunting. After eating, snakes also bask in the sun. But they try to avoid intense heat by hiding from it in water or thickets.

Water snakes hibernate on the shore in pits in the soil or in rodent burrows, at a depth of up to 80 centimeters. They can winter both singly and in groups, and sometimes their accumulations can be massive and number up to 200 individuals of various ages and sexes. In such collective shelters, snakes winter annually.

Reproduction of water snakes

During the breeding season, large clusters of water snakes are formed. In the spring, when snakes wake up from hibernation, they crawl away from water bodies and gather in groups of about 200 individuals, in which mating takes place. The mating behavior of water and ordinary snakes is the same.

In June-July, the female lays 6-25 eggs. Masonry is done in loose soil, under stones. Female water snakes, like ordinary ones, can make collective clutches, which contain up to 1000 eggs. Eggs develop for about 2 months, hatched snakes immediately begin to catch small fish. Sexual maturity occurs in the 3rd year of life.

Water snakes also have an autumn mating season, at this time they again move away from water bodies and mate. And the females lay the fertilized eggs next summer.

Water snakes have a large number of natural enemies. They are more likely than ordinary snakes to become victims of near-water birds and large fish.

Feeding water snakes

The diet of water snakes for the most part consists of fish, which snakes catch in both fresh and salt water. For one feeding, the water snake can swallow about 40 small fish, 2-3 centimeters in size, but they can also hunt more big fish reaching a length of 15 centimeters.

Water snakes have 2 hunting tactics: they lie in wait for prey, rush at it and grab it with lightning speed, or actively follow and catch their prey. If the attack is unsuccessful, it does not catch up with the fish. The snake tries to cling to the middle of the victim's body. Small fish are often swallowed right under water, but it is much more difficult for snakes to cope with large ones. The difficulty lies in the fact that he can no longer kill and swallow a large fish in the water, for this he needs a solid support. Therefore, it firmly clamps the fish in its teeth, lifts it above the water and swims ashore. Then he clings with his tail to some kind of support and with difficulty pulls the wriggling slave to the shore. Snakes always start swallowing the victim from the head.

This is an educational article about water snakes, and it was shortened in the November issue of National Geographic.

Are you taking a picture of a viper, - I heard a voice behind me, - See that you don’t bite.
- No, not a viper, but a snake, - I answered, not looking up from the camera viewfinder and shooting another close-up.
- Yes, vipers are now interbreeding with snakes: they turn out black, and gray, and in a box, and all are terribly poisonous!

Something like this happens every time someone sees me catching or photographing water snakes (Natrix tessellata).

The notoriety of these snakes is just the fruit of the fear of people who are not familiar with reptiles. Water snakes are deprived characteristic feature non-venomous snake familiar to everyone - yellow-orange spots in the back of the head that the common grass snake has ( Natrix natrix). For this reason, unknowing people classify all snakes without such spots as vipers and consider them poisonous and dangerous. Many share everyone legless reptile on snakes and simply “serpents”, referring to vipers. So they say: “Is it really or a snake?”.

As soon as they don’t call water snakes: “a hybrid of a viper and snake”, “chess viper”, “chess”. When shouting " chess snake“on the beach, swimmers jump out of the water and wait for the snake to swim away, or until there is a “dared man” and kills the snake with a stick. One often hears the stories of anglers about "meter-long vipers" swimming across rivers or climbing into cages with fish.

All these stories are not really related to vipers, they are about water snakes. The specific name of the snake N. tessellata is indeed translated from Latin as chess, but the water viper has nothing to do with vipers. It belongs to the genus (Natrix sp.) like the common snake.

For a man, the water one is harmless. This snake's defenses are loud hissing and foul-smelling excrement emitted when threatened. Unlike the common snake, the water snake almost never pretends to be dead.

The main food of water snakes is fish, which they catch among aquatic plants, snags or lying in wait, lying on the bottom. The snake cannot swallow the caught prey under water, therefore it rushes to the shore, where it swallows the fish, having previously turned its head towards itself.

If the prey is too large, the meal can drag on for an hour or even longer. Some snakes die, not calculating their strength and choosing too large a fish.

“The water one is already quite widespread: from southwestern France, the valley of the river. Rhine in the west, the southern border of the range runs along the eastern part North Africa(before Persian Gulf, Pakistan), in the east it occurs to the north-west of China, and the northern limits of the occupied territory pass through the Volga-Kama Territory, ”says the candidate of biological sciences, an employee of the Volgograd state university, herpetologist Dmitry Gordeev.

“This species belongs to the class of reptiles (Reptilia), the order of snakes (Serpentes), the family of snakes (Colubridae), the genus of real snakes (Natrix) and the species of water snake (Natrix tessellata). The water snake is a relatively large non-venomous snake, like all representatives of this family. Moreover, females, as a rule, are longer than males and can grow up to 1.1 m. Despite its impressive size, it is somewhat smaller than the familiar and easily recognizable ordinary snake, which can reach up to 1.14 m.

The muzzle of the water snake, compared to the common one, is more pointed, and there are no yellow-orange spots on the sides of the head. Due to the latter circumstance, it is often confused with such poisonous snakes like a common viper and steppe viper. "Oil on the fire" adds a pattern on the back of a water snake, which vaguely resembles a zigzag stripe of vipers. I have repeatedly come across dead snakes, which, apparently, the local population took for poisonous and mercilessly exterminated. On one of the expeditions, I came across a place of "mass execution", where I counted 25 "chess vipers" killed.

However, the water one already has a number external signs, which can be easily distinguished from poisonous vipers. The head is most recognizable - in vipers it is triangular in shape and most of the scutes (scales) on it are small, while in the water snake it is oval, and all the scutes are large. If you muster up the courage and look into the eyes of a snake, you can see that vipers, like real predators, have a vertical pupil (like a cat), and a snake has a round one. In addition, vipers are much smaller than snakes: the largest common viper reaches a length of up to 0.73 m.

Vodyanoy already settles near water: along the banks of rivers and irrigation canals, in flood meadows, where he finds his livelihood. Despite the peaceful nature, he is an active predator. Prefers fish different types- perch, roach, loach, can even hunt pike. Therefore, scientists call it an ichthyophage. The snake pulls the caught prey ashore, where it eats. Much less frequently, the diet includes frogs and their tadpoles.

In the literature there is information about the discovery in the stomach of even a cub common viper! The size of the prey can exceed the size of the snake's head, and the movable connection of the lower jaws and some bones associated with them helps to swallow it. Swallowing occurs by alternating movement of the left, then the right half of the lower jaw. This gives the impression that the snake "crawls" on its prey.

The active season lasts almost 9 months, appear from winter shelters in April. Soon after this, mating begins, then snakes are found in large numbers. One female can lay from 4 to 20 eggs, of which in July, under favorable circumstances, young growth will appear. Reed beds, tree roots, crevices in the substrate, rodent burrows, stumps and snags serve as a refuge for them. They leave for the winter at the end of October. large groups, sometimes together with an ordinary grass snake. Hedgehogs, desman, muskrat, fox, some birds hunt for snakes: osprey, gray heron, kites, serpent eagle, crow, rook and some others.

Every time I hear mention of a "terribly poisonous checkerboard", I talk about water snakes, their way of life, I try to convince them that these snakes are absolutely not dangerous. But every time I encounter misunderstanding, it’s easier for people to be afraid of the “chess viper” than to admit their belief in rumors and stop killing all snakes that lack the “identification marks” of an ordinary snake.

Zoologists classify the common grass snake as a type of chordates, a class of reptiles, a squamous order, and a family of already-like ones. This snake is found in all areas with temperate climate- both in our country and in Eurasia as a whole.

Below we will talk about its habitats, dietary habits and lifestyle, as well as explain the ways in which you can distinguish between a viper and an ordinary snake.

What does it look like

The most typical coloration of this snake from the back is a simple brown, dark gray or blackish, with an implicit pattern.

Quite rare, but there are also completely black snakes, as, indeed, albinos. Their abdomen is always lighter, it is a dirty gray color, has a dark stripe stretching to the very throat.

On the sides of the head of most representatives of this species are two bright yellow or orange spots oval shape, which is a peculiar calling card this reptile (see the photo of the common snake in the article). It should be borne in mind that occasionally there are individuals in which these spots either do not exist, or they are weakly expressed.

Usually the length of the body of this snake is about a meter. But some specimens of common snake females can be larger - up to 150 cm.

habitats

Already ordinary from the class of reptiles is a typical and perhaps one of the most common types of reptiles.

Quite often, these reptiles choose hollows and pits under the roots of trees, as well as burrows. For life, it prefers wet and swampy places already ordinary. The snake is found in abundance near ponds, lakes, rivers, swamps, near beaver huts, in coastal bushes, in old clearings, in damp forests, especially multi-tiered forests, in haystacks, under bridges, etc.

It often settles near human habitation - houses, outbuildings, in household plots. Snakes can be found in sheds, in barns, woodpiles, on garbage heaps. Sometimes they crawl into attics and basements. Apparently, this is due to the fact that permanent human neighbors also live here - small rodents and insects, which make up the main diet of snakes.

Lifestyle

Already ordinary - a rather frisky reptile. Everyone who has ever tried to catch her knows how difficult it is. This snake moves perfectly both on the ground and in the trees. Crawling, it develops speed up to 5 km per hour, and for a snake this is not bad at all. Snakes are also excellent swimmers, keeping their heads above the surface and leaving a trail in the form of characteristic ripples with their bodies wriggling in the water. And if necessary, hunting, he can dive and hold out at a depth for half an hour! He is able to lie at the bottom for a long time, lying in wait for prey. despite such remarkable qualities as a skilled swimmer, snakes prefer not to swim far, hunting in coastal areas.

Day - usual for snake active time, he goes hunting most often in the morning or in the evening. At noon, this snake loves to bask in the sun, curled up in a ring on a tree branch or on a brownie. However, all of the above applies to the common snake, but another species of snakes - burrowing from North Africa - leads an exclusively nocturnal lifestyle.

With the onset autumn months(usually in October-November) snakes hide in holes or under stones and hibernate. They can sleep for 8 months a year - the duration of hibernation depends on the time of the onset of cold weather and their end. Usually hibernation ends by the days of April, when the sun noticeably warms the earth.

For wintering, snakes choose non-freezing secluded places where no one will disturb them. Up to several dozen individuals can gather in such shelters, sometimes other types of snakes join them.

In captivity, it can live up to 20 years. Zoologists suggest that this could be life expectancy in nature, if not for a large number natural enemies.

Mating season and reproduction

Shortly after awakening, male snakes are woven into a hissing ball, arranging fights for the female: the mating season begins for the common snake. And after three months, the snakes are looking for places for future clutches in secluded and damp places: either this is a pile of old foliage, or an old hole, or a hole under a rotten, maturing log covered with moss.

The nest contains 20 to 40 eggs. The length of the egg on average is up to 25-30 mm, and the width is no more than 18-20. Freshly laid eggs are oval in shape, covered with a leathery, sticky whitish shell. They often stick together, forming chains or clumps.

Sometimes the masonry does not remain the only one. It may happen that, having found a nest, another female will lay her eggs to these. If the hiding place is not destroyed by rats, the cubs will hatch from the eggs in a couple of months (and if the weather is cold, then in three).

Newborn snakes are still small, no more than 15-20 cm, but they are already quite ready to lead an independent life and can hunt - insects, their larvae, caterpillars, worms and even juvenile fish.

Moult

Having survived the winter, the snakes also go through the process of molting. Their skin at this time fades and loses its former colors. Moulting snakes rub against any protruding places - stones, snags, tree bark, trying to quickly crawl out of their old skin, which peels off them like a stocking.

Those who have entered the habitats of snakes sometimes catch the eye of the so-called creeps (or "shirts") - translucent skins or parts of them that have lagged behind the snake's body. As a rule, the skin comes off the whole reptile, but sometimes the molt passes in an abnormal mode - then it loses its old skin shreds.

Interestingly, at the last moment of molting, the snake becomes almost completely blind: just like from the whole body, a thin skin gradually comes off its eyes, which makes it difficult to see. Then he tries by touch to find some safe secluded gap, crawl into it and wait there for the end of the molt.

A molted snake looks quite impressive - all the strokes on its skin come out clearer and brighter, even the pupils in the eyes become clearly distinguishable.

What is eating

The diet of this reptile consists mainly of small vertebrates and various insects. Frogs, newts, other snakes, rodents, birds, their eggs, chicks, fish, etc. - this is what the common one eats.

Having overtaken its prey (and this snake, like all reptiles in general, attacks only moving, moving animals), it already attacks it. It swallows prey alive and whole. At the same time, the sharp teeth of the snake, bent inward, do not serve at all to plunge them into the body of the victim. He cannot tear her to pieces and start chewing, he cannot even strangle her with his body. Therefore, he swallows it. And he needs teeth to help himself push the body of the caught animal inside, acting alternately with the upper and lower parts of the jaw.

If at this crucial moment some enemy encroaches on the snake himself, he, of course, will have to retreat. And in order to escape as quickly as possible, it will burp a half-swallowed victim. Interestingly, at the same time, the liberated food, often not affected in the least by the adventure, runs away about its own business.

snakes can long time stay hungry, but always need to drink and bathe.

Who attacks snakes in nature

This snake itself also often becomes the prey of various predators. Enemies in wild nature already have enough. These are badgers, foxes, martens, minks, raccoon dogs. Birds also love to hunt him. An eagle or a kite that has fallen from the sky will grab a snake, and sometimes even a stork will pick it up.

Most often, this reptile will prefer to crawl away from danger as quickly as possible, but if the enemy is too close, the snake can curl up into a knot and make several false attacks towards the offender, hissing loudly. Even snakes can skillfully pretend to be dead - they relax the body, open their mouths with their tongue hanging out and lie motionless, showing a complete lack of reactions to external stimuli. In this case, the snake may even regurgitate partially digested food. Most of predators avoids eating carrion - this is what helps the cunning snake. As soon as the enemy turns away in disappointment, the "imaginary dead man" resurrects and quickly crawls away.

Sometimes it can splash on the attacker with a special yellowish-white liquid that has an unpleasant odor. It does not irritate the skin, only stinks. But most four-legged predators with a sensitive scent stop this, but such protection does not work against birds.

Can it be dangerous for a person?

Most representatives of the already-shaped family cannot do any harm to people. They can only slightly scratch the skin with their teeth if you show a desire to take the snake in your hands. Already ordinary in most cases, when trying to catch him, he will prefer to hide.

However, some species, such as, for example, the tiger snake, common in Far East and in adjacent areas, they have teeth in the back of the upper jaw with furrows containing poison. The bite of such a reptile can lead to edema, occasionally even death.

But in general, an ordinary one is a harmless animal that brings undoubted benefits to a person. In the house, he exterminates rodents.

In addition, there are amateurs who keep snakes in home terrariums. Needless to say, this is a pretty tricky job. Oddly enough, with all the prevalence of this reptile in the wild, for its comfortable existence in captivity, it is necessary to fulfill a number of requirements for temperature regime, humidity, nutrition, the presence of heated shelters, etc. A snake living in a terrarium, as well as crawling among forests, needs to hibernate, which should also be provided by artificially created climatic conditions.

Why are snakes and common vipers confused?

These snakes are often confused, especially by people who are not privy to zoological subtleties. Indeed, there is a similarity between the snake and the common viper - the habitats of these reptiles are very similar, they resemble each other in their lifestyle, diet composition and behavior in general. Both of them are most active during the daytime, from May to September, and also love damp places and bask in the sun in summer.

But this is where the similarity ends, because the viper, unlike the common snake, is poisonous. The consequences of her bite can be called edema, headache, dizziness, chills and nausea.

A photo of a common snake and a viper (see below) shows a distinct difference. As you can see, it's not hard to tell them apart.

Let's take a closer look at what are the similarities and differences between the grass snake and the common viper.

What is the similarity?

Neither the viper nor the viper ever attack a person first, but, having met, they prefer to flee. But both snakes will bite if you step on them. But if you may not even notice the bite of the snake, the bite of the viper is not at all harmless. Therefore, to begin with, being in nature, in the places of the natural possible habitat of these snakes, look under your feet and around!

Try, although it is not always possible in field conditions, to observe the snake you meet. The differences between the snake and the common viper are very noticeable - just to notice this, it may take some time.

What are the differences?

Main and easily noticeable distinguishing feature snake - orange or yellow spots on the sides of the head. You will not find such spots in a viper.

In addition, this reptile can be distinguished by the dorsal zigzag pattern on the skin. True, this distinctive feature will catch your eye, you should not hope too much: if the pattern and background of the snake are dark enough, the pattern may be barely distinguishable.

The viper is often confused with the completely harmless water snake. Its spotted pattern somewhat resembles the markings of a chessboard, for which tourists call this species or hybrid viper and ruthlessly destroy it. And the water snake does not have yellow spots on the head, like the common snake.

In general, snakes are larger than vipers due to the length of the tail. Some representatives of the former can reach one and a half meters, while most individuals of the latter do not exceed a meter in length.

Usually, in the description of an ordinary grass snake, it is said that it has an ovoid head, while in a viper it looks more like a triangular end of a spear. And the shields on her head are smaller.

Pay attention to the eyes of the met has vertical pupils, while already - round.

Precautionary measures

Here, of course, we are talking about necessary measures to protect yourself from bites dangerous viper. Do not forget that where you can meet snake, you will probably see her.

First of all, heading to the places of possible snake habitats, you should pay attention to your clothes: boots and clothes made of thick fabric with long sleeves should be mandatory for these trips.

When you meet a viper, do not wave your arms, try to crush it or even grab it. In general, you should not make sudden movements. Stop and wait - the snake will most likely crawl away.

In the spring, in April-May, when both vipers and snakes have mating games, by the way, you should be especially careful.

What to do with a viper bite

If you still could not avoid the bite of the viper, limit the movement of the bitten limb so that the poison does not penetrate into the surrounding tissues. And of course, contact us as soon as possible. medical care. When bitten by a viper, it is very important to inject a drug that neutralizes the poison, a special serum, in time. It is equally important to drink as much liquid as possible during this time.

You should not cauterize the bite site or open it so that the poisoned blood can supposedly come off. Do not apply tourniquets to the limb.

It is still not clear whether it is possible to suck out the poison from the wound. The doctors never came to consensus, and some of them consider this procedure not harmless both for the amateur "doctor" and for his "patient".

The water snake, or as it was called by the people - the “chess viper” is often found in the neighborhood with an ordinary snake and lives near both flowing and non-flowing reservoirs. His appearance on the beach quite often raises a real panic among vacationers. People immediately crawl out onto land, and the fate of a troublemaker, alas, is sometimes unenviable. I suggest you find out a few interesting facts about this snake.

Are you taking a picture of a viper, - I heard a voice behind me, - See that you don’t bite.

No, not a viper, but a snake, - I answered, not looking up from the camera viewfinder and shooting another close-up.

Yes, vipers are now interbreeding with snakes: they turn out black, and gray, and in a box, and all are terribly poisonous!

Something like this happens every time someone sees me catching or photographing water snakes.

The notoriety of these snakes is just the fruit of the fear of people who are not familiar with reptiles. Water snakes lack the characteristic sign of a non-venomous snake, familiar to everyone - yellow-orange spots at the back of the head, which the common snake (Natrix natrix) has. For this reason, unknowing people classify all snakes without such spots as vipers and consider them poisonous and dangerous. Many people divide all legless reptiles into snakes and just "snakes", referring to vipers. So they say: “Is it really or a snake?”.

As soon as they don’t call water snakes: “a hybrid of a viper and snake”, “chess viper”, “chess”. When shouting “chess snake” on the beach, swimmers jump out of the water and wait for the snake to swim away, or until a “dared man” is found and kills the snake with a stick. One often hears the stories of anglers about "meter-long vipers" swimming across rivers or climbing into cages with fish.

The main food of water snakes is fish, which they catch among aquatic plants, snags or lying in wait at the bottom. The snake cannot swallow the caught prey under water, therefore it rushes to the shore, where it swallows the fish, having previously turned its head towards itself.

If the prey is too large, the meal can drag on for an hour or even longer. Some snakes die, not calculating their strength and choosing too large a fish.

“The water one is already quite widespread: from southwestern France, the valley of the river. The Rhine is in the west, the southern border of the range runs along the eastern part of northern Africa (to the Persian Gulf, Pakistan), in the east it occurs to the north-west of China, and the northern limits of the occupied territory pass through the Volga-Kama Territory, ”says Candidate of Biological Sciences, employee Volgograd State University, herpetologist Dmitry Gordeev.

The muzzle of the water snake, compared to the common one, is more pointed, and there are no yellow-orange spots on the sides of the head. Because of the latter circumstance, it is often confused with such venomous snakes as the common viper and the steppe viper. "Oil on the fire" adds a pattern on the back of a water snake, which vaguely resembles a zigzag stripe of vipers. I repeatedly came across dead snakes, which, apparently, the local population took for poisonous and mercilessly exterminated. On one of the expeditions, I came across a place of "mass execution", where I counted 25 "chess vipers" killed.

However, the water snake has a number of external signs by which it can be easily distinguished from poisonous vipers. The head is most recognizable - in vipers it is triangular in shape and most of the scutes (scales) on it are small, while in the water snake it is oval, and all the scutes are large. If you muster up the courage and look into the eyes of a snake, you can see that vipers, like real predators, have a vertical pupil (like a cat), and a snake has a round one. In addition, vipers are much smaller than snakes: the largest common viper reaches a length of up to 0.73 m.

Vodyanoy already settles near water: along the banks of rivers and irrigation canals, in flood meadows, where he finds his livelihood. Despite the peaceful nature, he is an active predator. Prefers fish of different species - perch, roach, loach, can even hunt pike. Therefore, scientists call it an ichthyophage. The snake pulls the caught prey ashore, where it eats. Much less frequently, the diet includes frogs and their tadpoles.

In the literature there is information about the discovery in the stomach of even a baby of an ordinary viper! The size of the prey can exceed the size of the snake's head, and the movable connection of the lower jaws and some bones associated with them helps to swallow it. Swallowing occurs by alternating movement of the left, then the right half of the lower jaw. This gives the impression that the snake "crawls" on its prey.

The active season lasts almost 9 months, they emerge from winter shelters in April. Soon after this, mating begins, then snakes are found in large numbers. One female can lay from 4 to 20 eggs, of which in July, under favorable circumstances, young growth will appear. Reed beds, tree roots, crevices in the substrate, rodent burrows, stumps and snags serve as a refuge for them. They leave for wintering at the end of October in large groups, sometimes together with an ordinary grass snake. Hedgehogs, desman, muskrat, fox, some birds hunt for snakes: osprey, gray heron, kites, serpent eagle, crow, rook and some others.

Even more interesting topics in our group IN CONTACT
Tricks of Life

Water already - close relative ordinary snake. He is more thermophilic and even more hygrophilous.

In terms of size, the water one practically does not differ from the ordinary one. The largest known specimen reached a total length of one and a half meters. In a water snake, a little differently than in an ordinary one, large SHIELDES are located on the head. It also differs in color: it has no yellow spots on the back of the head, the pattern on the back is different, the ventral side is pink-red or orange-yellow. General background coloring - greenish-gray or brownish; along it, dark spots or narrow transverse stripes are usually staggered. Sometimes these spots form longitudinal stripes. There are also monochromatic individuals (without a pattern of spots) and even completely black ones - melanists.

Where do water snakes live?

In Europe, the water one is already found only in the south of its central and eastern parts. It is also distributed in Central and Asia Minor, in the Caucasus, in the west of India and China. In Russia, it is known from the southern Volga region and Ciscaucasia.

These snakes rarely live far from bodies of water. This is where they spend the bulk of the active season; found on the banks of ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and even seas. There are many of them in artificial canals, ditches, reservoirs, fish ponds. They prefer open, warm, stagnant or slow flowing waters, but are also found in fast, cold mountain streams. In the mountains come across at altitudes up to 3000 meters. Since these snakes hunt in the water, they avoid muddy, polluted waters. Their favorite resting places are branches tilted over the water or flat stones on the banks. The snakes swim perfectly on the surface and in the water column, cope with a strong current, sail from the coast at a distance of up to five kilometers. In addition, the merman is already good at climbing trees and bushes, often crawling into the crowns of near-water plants.

Water snake lifestyle

These snakes are active during daylight hours. At night, they hide under stones and other objects lying on the shore, in the burrows of other animals, in various cracks and depressions under plants. They can hide in hay or dense vegetation. There are large nocturnal accumulations of snakes in reed beds. On cool mornings, they are slow and bask in sunlit places. Warmed up, they go into the water to hunt. Well-fed, they also often rest in the sun. But they do not like strong heat - they hide from it in thickets or in water.

The wintering period is spent by water snakes on the shore - in rodent burrows, voids in the soil - at a considerable depth (up to 80 cm). They usually hibernate alone or in small groups, but have also been found mass gatherings snakes - up to two hundred individuals of different sex and age. Such collective shelters are used by snakes from year to year.

Reproduction of water urchins

Accumulations of these snakes can also form during the breeding season. In the spring, shortly after leaving wintering, they sometimes move away from the reservoir and gather in groups of 150-200 individuals, where mating takes place. Mating behavior is the same as that of an ordinary grass snake.

The female lays in at the end of June July from 6 to 25 eggs. Masonry is done under stones, in a loose substrate. Like the common grass snake, collective clutches are formed in the most suitable places - up to a thousand eggs. Incubation lasts about two months, newborn uzhat immediately begin to catch small fish. They become sexually mature in the third year of life.

In water snakes, the autumn period of mating activity is also pronounced, when they again move away from the water and can mate.

The eggs fertilized in this case are laid the following summer.

The water snake has many natural enemies. It more often than ordinary snake becomes prey for large fish and near-water birds.

Feeding water snakes

The water snake feeds mainly on fish, which it catches both in fresh water and in sea water. In one hunt, it can swallow up to forty small (2-3 cm) fish, but it also catches larger fish - up to 15 centimeters in body length. This snake uses two hunting tactics - either actively seeking out, chasing and catching fish, or lying in wait for them and grabbing them in a throw; in case of an unsuccessful attack, it does not catch up with the lost prey. Tries to grab the victim by the middle of the body. Small fish sometimes swallows directly under water, it is more difficult for him to cope with a larger one. The problem is that it can no longer kill or swallow relatively large prey right in the water: it needs a solid support. Therefore, he swims ashore, holding the fish tightly in his mouth and lifting it above the water. Clinging to the back of the body for some stone, he hardly pulls the beating victim to land, where he swallows it, and always from the head. It happens that a snake catches too large or wide fish (for example, crucian carp), which it cannot swallow, and then with such an effort the prey pulled ashore has to be thrown. In addition to fish, they catch frogs and toads in the water, as well as their tadpoles. Occasionally snakes eat small mammals and birds.

Eating a large number of small fish, water snakes can cause significant damage to fish farms, where they have to be fought.

In case of danger, the merman is already trying to hide in the water and hide at the bottom. Taken in hand, it emits a fetid yellow liquid, like an ordinary grass snake.