Yellowbell capercaillie. The yellowbell lizard is not a snake! Description and photo of an amazing creature

The largest lizard of the Crimea. - Yellow-bellied (not dangerous to human life.). This is a very large lizard. The record length for the species is 144 cm (with tail). The tail is about twice as long as the body. The head of the yellowbell passes into the body without the slightest hint of a cervical interception. It has a shape characteristic of lizards, uniformly tapering towards the tip of the muzzle. The rudiments of the hind limbs are preserved in the yellowbell, which do not play any role in his life. The teeth are very characteristic - powerful, blunt, adapted to crushing. The body of the yellowbell is hard and inflexible, as it is covered with large ribbed scales, under which there are bone plates about 5x5 millimeters in size, forming a bone shell. Because of this feature, the genus that includes the yellowbell is called "armored spindles". There is a gap between the abdominal and dorsal parts of the bone chain mail, which from the outside looks like a lateral longitudinal fold of the skin. It is formed by one or two rows of smaller scales without a bone base. Thanks to these folds, a slightly greater mobility of the body is provided. In addition, folds allow you to increase the volume of the body when eating or when carrying eggs. Adult yellow-bellies are colored in yellow and brown tones. On this background, small dark spots are sometimes scattered. The underside of the body is lighter. Young yellowbellies look completely different: they are striped. The background color of their body is yellowish gray, the stripes are dark, transverse, zigzag. Where does the yellowbell live? Yellowbelly is a southern lizard. In Europe, it is found only on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Crimea; widely distributed in Asia Minor and the Middle East, Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan. In Russia, it is known from the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Kalmykia and Dagestan. In the areas of its distribution, the yellowbell uses a variety of open habitats: steppes and semi-deserts, mountain slopes, sparse forests, vineyards and abandoned fields. It occurs at altitudes up to 2300 meters. He has daily activity, and he often catches your eye - crawls out onto roads, climbs into buildings. In contrast to the shade-loving and humidity-loving spindle, the yellowbell prefers dry and sunny biotopes. But on the other hand, he willingly enters shallow water and can stay in the water for a long time, although he practically cannot swim. At night and on a hot afternoon, the yellowbell hides in thickets of bushes, under objects lying on the ground, in heaps of stones. In some places, yellowbellies are a common and common lizard. Despite the relatively little flexibility of the body, the yellowbell can crawl at a fairly high speed. At the same time, it intensively wriggles in waves with a large amplitude, and, having overcome several meters, stops for a short while. Then the next powerful jerk, and again a short pause. Such crawling is markedly different from the smooth and uniform movement of snakes. The yellowbell has to move a lot - in a day he masters the territory with a radius of about 200 meters. What do yellowbells eat? Yellowbelly is one of the few lizards specialized in feeding on certain “products”. Powerful jaws and developed blunt teeth are adapted to crush the outer shells of animals, primarily mollusks. Both in nature and in captivity, yellowbellies prefer this particular prey. If the spindle chooses naked slugs or cunningly pulls snails out of the shells, then the yellowbell simply cracks through their “houses” like a nutcracker. Even such large mollusks with a thick shell, like the grape snail, are defenseless against the yellowbell. He is actively looking for his prey. Having noticed it, it can creep up very slowly and then, from a distance of several centimeters, rush at it with lightning speed with its mouth wide open, which, as it were, covers the victim from above. He not only crushes snails with his jaws, but also, holding them in his mouth, crushes them against nearby stones. Swallowed shells and their fragments are digested in the stomach of the yellowbell. Just like snails, the yellowbell bites through large hard insects - beetles, orthopterans. On occasion, he will eat a bird's egg, and a chick, and a mouse-like rodent, and a toad, a lizard, and even a snake. He tries to crush the captured prey, quickly spinning around his axis, so that the victim is crushed on the ground. Like the spindles, two yellowbellies, grabbing one prey from both ends, can, rotating in different directions, break it “brotherly”. Unlike the spindle, the yellowbell includes plant foods in its diet, for example, apricot carrion, vizhnrad berries. The omnivorous yellowbell eats even carrion - a rare food for reptiles; in nature, they observed how the yellowbells tried to swallow the corpses of pikas and magpies. Reproduction of yellowbellies Almost nothing is known about the social and mating behavior of yellowbellies. In captivity, lizards of this species are peaceful towards each other and towards snakes kept together with them. Males are much more common in nature than females. Perhaps females are less active and spend more time in shelters. The yellowbell has powerful jaws, but rarely uses them for defense. Taken in hand, he tries to free himself with the help of energetic writhing and rotation around his axis. The enemy can also be doused with excrement. These lizards reproduce by laying eggs. In laying 6-10 large eggs in an elastic white shell; their length is 3-4 centimeters, width is 1.5-2 centimeters. A case was noted when a female guarded her clutch, wrapping herself around her, as some snakes do. Young yellowbellies about 10 centimeters long hatch in a month and a half. It remains a mystery why adults in their habitats are common and often found animals, and their juveniles are extremely rarely seen. Perhaps this is due to the still unknown features of the biology of young yellowbellies. Like the spindle, when shedding, the yellowbell shifts the dead layers of the skin to the tail. Large size and bone "chain mail" protect adult animals from most natural predators. They are attacked by some birds, as well as foxes and dogs. Yellowfins do not regenerate. In nature, you can find a lot of individuals with traces of injuries and torn ends of the tails. In some populations, the proportion of such persons with disabilities is as high as 50 percent. Obviously, the main culprits of these injuries are predators, grabbing lizards by their long tails when they crawl into shelters that do not fit entirely, and the defenseless tail is left outside. Hedgehogs are especially dangerous in this regard - they cannot cope with a large and strong lizard, but they can easily tear off or bite off a piece of its tail. It is possible that the yellowbell's tail freezes during sudden frosts. It is also possible that yellowbellies themselves can inflict injuries on each other in fights or during mating. Injured and tailless lizards do not differ from healthy ones either in behavior or in the nature of activity. Many of these lizards are destroyed by man in his eternal struggle with snakes. They are also caught for keeping in captivity (yellow-bellies live well in terrariums and in open-air cages). But a person inflicts no less damage indirectly: yellow-bellies die on the roads, fall into various pits, ditches, structures from which they cannot get out.

The hero of this story about the Crimean fauna will be the yellow-bellied lizard. Have you heard of this? Yellowbelly is a legless lizard that represents a squad of scaly. The yellowbell belongs to the spindle family, the genus - armored spindles.

The nature of Crimea is unique and inimitable. So many different “children” of mother nature live and grow on this relatively small piece of land! Everything is amazing here: flora, fauna, unusual landscapes, mysterious stories and beliefs of local residents that attract tourists from all over the world. Animals of the Crimea deserve special mention.

What does a yellowbell lizard look like?

These reptiles are quite large. The body length of an adult yellowfin can reach 1.5 meters! Most of the body is occupied by the tail. The animal does not have a neck at all, the head completely merges with the body. The muzzle has a narrowed shape at the end. Yellowbelly is not a very flexible animal, because its entire body is covered with large scales that have a ribbed structure.

When the yellowbell grows up, its skin turns brown and yellow, sometimes with spots, while young individuals are more variegated in color. The abdomen of the yellow-bellied belly is light.

Where else, besides the Crimean peninsula, does the yellow legless lizard live?

On European territory, this reptile lives on the Balkan Peninsula. But in Asia Minor and Central Asia - this is a very common animal. In addition, the yellowbell lives in the Middle East. In our country, this lizard inhabits the Crimea, Dagestan, Kalmykia and Stavropol.

The lifestyle and behavior of the yellowbell in nature

This representative of the scaly order prefers open areas, so it can be found in the semi-desert, on the slopes of the mountains, in the steppe, in the territories of vineyards and light forests. Still likes zheltupuzik to live in fields. In mountainous areas it climbs up to a height of 2300 meters above sea level.

Active life takes place during daylight hours. This animal does not really gravitate to places that are damp and hidden from the sun, on the contrary - most often it crawls out into the sun and spends time basking in dry, open glades. But if the day is too hot, the yellowbell can hide in a thicket of bushes or heaps of stones.

However, water is still required for the yellowbell, but for this it uses shallow water. Having climbed into the water, he can sit in it for a long time, despite the fact that he hardly knows how to swim.

The lack of body flexibility does not prevent this amphibian from crawling at an impressive speed. During the day, the yellowbell can crawl in different directions over the territory, the radius of which is 200 meters.

What is included in the diet of yellow Crimean lizards?

Yellowbells feed mainly on molluscs. They are very fond of snails. And on the “dining table” this legless lizard has insects (various beetles), mice, toads, lizards, snakes, small chicks and even bird eggs. Do not disdain yellow-bellied and carrion.

In addition to animal food, the legless lizard includes some plants in its “menu”. She loves to feast on apricots, grapes and other fruit crops.

Reproduction of yellow-bellied lizards

The female lays eggs. Usually, the clutch consists of 6 - 10 large eggs, which are covered with a white shell that has an elastic structure. The size of one yellowbell egg is approximately 3 x 2 centimeters. Sometimes a female legless lizard guards her future cubs very carefully. To do this, she wraps herself around the masonry and "hatches" the eggs. After 6 weeks, small yellow-tubs are born, they are very tiny - no more than 10 centimeters in length.

Who are the natural enemies of legless lizards?

Sometimes these animals become prey

This snake belongs to the snake family and therefore cannot be poisonous. The yellow-bellied snake is also called the yellow-bellied or yellow-bellied snake. In Europe, there is no larger snake, it can reach a length of two and a half meters. Yellowbelly crawls very fast, has a graceful body and a relatively long tail. The upper part of the body is painted in a solid brown or almost black. On the back of young individuals there is one, and more often two rows of spots

dark in color, in some places they, merging, form transverse stripes. On the head, dark dots merge into a regular one. A number of small spots are also placed on the sides of the snake. Her belly has a grayish-white color with yellow stains located along the edges of the abdominal scutes.

habitats

The yellow-bellied snake prefers to settle in dry places, basking in the daytime in areas open to the sun's rays. It is active only during daylight hours. It can hide in bushes, in gardens, vineyards and ruins of buildings. In the mountains it occurs up to a height of 2000 meters, where it hides among rocks on rocky slopes. Yellow-bellied hides not only among stones and thickets of bushes, but also in rodent burrows or in hollows of trees. It climbs well on branches, but does not climb to great heights. Although, in general, he is not afraid of heights and, if necessary, can jump down from a tree or a cliff.

The snake is often found on the banks of water bodies, not because it likes to swim, but due to the presence of a large amount of food in coastal thickets. Sometimes the yellow-bellied snake crawls under a haystack wall or into an outbuilding.

The hunter and his prey

With sharp eyesight, quick reactions and high speed of movement, the snake is a successful hunter. The prey of the snake is most often small mammals, lizards and large insects, such as locusts or their relatives. Devastates birds located on the ground or low on trees and shrubs. The yellow-bellied snake menu is quite diverse, it includes lizards, snakes, birds, rodents.

He even hunts vipers, sometimes receiving bites from them, but, apparently, he does not suffer much from this. Considering the intensity of the hunt of the yellowbell, it can be argued that where it lives, there are no rodents, not even in sight.

Defensive aggressiveness

Usually, faced with a person, the yellow-bellied snake tries to quickly retreat. But after some time, he will definitely return to his original place, especially if his shelter is located there. If there is nowhere to retreat or a person comes close to his shelter, the snake boldly rises to his defense. At the same time, he not only demonstrates his aggressiveness, but also makes jumps towards the enemy. The wide-open mouth, loud hissing and bold attack make an impression. The snake may even bite for some weak spot. The bites are quite strong, but they are a yellow-bellied snake, in fact, a harmless creature, its aggressiveness is forced, and its evil disposition serves as protection from those who encroach on its territory.

Therefore, it is not poisonous, and, accordingly, does not pose any danger to humans.

Yellowbelly is also known as yellow-bellied snake or just yellowbell. To date, it is considered the largest snake of all inhabiting the territory of modern Europe.

Features and habitat of the yellow-bellied

The yellow-bellied snake is a very fast crawling snake, which has a rather graceful body and an impressive tail. The yellow-bellied head is clearly demarcated from the body, the eyes are quite large with a round pupil.

These snakes generally have very well-developed eyesight, which, combined with a quick reaction and high speed of movement, makes them excellent hunters.

Representatives of this species are not in vain recognized as the largest among others living throughout Europe. The body length of an average individual is approximately 1.5-2 meters, however, specimens are known whose length exceeded three meters.

Despite its length, the Yellowbelly is a very fast snake.

If you look at the various yellow belly photo, you can see that the color of most adults looks about the same: the upper body has a solid color in brown, olive or rich black tones, the back has many spots arranged in one or two rows.

The belly is usually white-gray with yellow-red or yellow spots. In general, the coloration of different individuals varies greatly depending on habitat and geographic location.

The habitat of these snakes extends virtually throughout Europe. To date, there are a great many of them on the Balkan Peninsula, in Asia Minor and Central, in Moldova, among the steppes of Ukraine, the forests of Transcaucasia and in many other places.

The snake got its name from the belly, which has a yellow tint.

Already yellow-bellied prefers open steppes, semi-deserts, thickets of bushes stretching along roads, rocky mountain slopes and even wetlands that are difficult for humans to access.

In the event that a particular period of the year is characterized by severe drought, the yellow-bellied can move directly to the floodplains of the rivers and populate spaces along the rivers.

Yellowbelly often penetrates into human settlements, crawling into various buildings located on the territory of farms in order to lay eggs or wait out adverse temperature conditions.

It can also organize a temporary shelter for itself in haystacks and haystacks, but recently they can be found there less and less often. A temporary shelter for the yellow-bellied can be a crack in the ground, a rocky mound along the riverbed, a rodent burrow or some kind of hollow located at a low altitude.

Yellowbelly is very attached to his home, so he usually tries not to leave his halls for a long period of time, returning there even from a long trip for prey.

Often it can be found among the ruins of ancient buildings, vineyards and even in mountainous areas at an altitude of up to two thousand meters. They try to settle mainly near water sources, but not because they like to swim, but because there is always a lot of potential prey there.

Yellowbellies like to make their dwellings on stone ruins near water bodies.

The nature and lifestyle of the yellow-bellied

The yellow belly, despite its non-toxicity and relative safety for humans, nevertheless does not differ in a peaceful character. You can watch a video of how the yellow-bellied tail beats on the Internet in order to personally get an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe capabilities and grace of this large snake.

Having met a person in the wild, the yellow-bellied will not always prefer to bypass him. Often, it begins to curl up in a spiral, while raising the front of the body and opening its mouth wide, trying to bite a person with a loud hiss.

At the same time, he makes sharp jumps and lunges towards his own opponent, constantly moving from place to place, so that from the side it may seem as if the snake is jumping. Yellowbelly beats with its tail and is able to make a swift jump over a distance of more than one meter, attacking a person directly in the face.

The nature of the yellow-bellied differs from most other representatives of the snake kingdom in its imbalance and randomness. The snake is extremely resourceful and has incredible agility, so catching it is an extremely difficult task.

And, besides, it can inflict bites that are quite painful for humans, since the snake's mouth has several dozen sharp teeth, somewhat curved back.

Fragments of yellow-bellied teeth usually remain in the wound, and if you do not pull it out after a certain period of time from the moment of the bite, you can get to blood poisoning. In the event of a bite, the wound must be treated with any antiseptic as soon as possible and then medical assistance should be provided to the victim.

During a particularly hot season, snakes can overheat in the sun, after which they go into an extremely overexcited state, during which yellow-bellied tail strikes and performs other chaotic maneuvers. This is due to the fact that with an increase in body temperature, the yellow-bellied metabolism is significantly accelerated.

Yellowbelly nutrition

The diet of the yellow-bellied belly is very extensive. Since the snake has excellent eyesight and excellent reaction, all kinds of lizards, small mammals, large insects such as locusts and, as well as birds that have built their nests at low altitudes, often become its prey.

The yellow-bellied is also not averse to hunting rodents, sometimes it can even attack the poisonous one, which, however, is capable of repelling representatives of the snake family.

Reproduction and lifespan

Yellow-bellied eggs are laid around the last days of June. In one clutch, usually from six to twenty eggs, from which offspring appear in the period from late summer to early autumn.

The yellow-bellied has quite a lot of enemies, so he himself can become the prey of predatory or other opponents. Life expectancy in the wild is about eight to nine years.

If a snake looks at you and blinks, know that this is not a snake, but a yellow-bellied lizard. This amazing animal has no paws, which misleads an unenlightened person.

Where can you find this unusual reptile? The main habitats of the yellow-bellied lizard are Central and South-Western Asia, Eastern Europe, China, Western Africa, North America. These animals prefer to settle in different places. For some, steppes and semi-deserts are suitable, others choose river valleys, and others choose mountains. In order to hide from predators and people, the yellow-bellied lizard digs burrows on its own or hides in those left by other animals, dives into water bodies, crawls under bushes and tree roots. In our country, this reptile, which is scientifically called the armored spindle, is often found in Anapa.

Appearance

The body of this reptile is serpentine - elongated from the sides and passes into a long tail. It grows up to 120-150 centimeters. If we consider its muzzle separately from the body, it is clearly seen that this is a lizard. Its head is large, auditory openings are visible on the sides. Adults are yellow, brown or copper in color. They differ from young ones in a darker shade and the absence of transverse zigzag stripes. Young lizards usually have 16-22 of them. As a reminder of the limbs, the yellowbell lizard has tubercles near the anus.

Doesn't hurt a person

Strong jaws do an excellent job of catching and eating prey. However, for some reason, the yellowbell cannot protect itself from human touches with their help. Therefore, a person can safely pick up this harmless creature and take a closer look. She won't bite. But he can make it so that you yourself let her go free. This animal sprays its enemy with feces that have a pungent odor. So the hand will open involuntarily. Some believe that the yellowbell lizard is poisonous. This is not true. It kills its prey in a completely different way.

delicious food

First, let's figure out what serves as food for this reptile. It eats insects, invertebrate mollusks, small vertebrates. If you manage to get it, then it does not disdain bird eggs. When hungry, he eats fruits. Interestingly, when meeting with a viper, the yellow-bellied will win. Its body is covered with tough scales, which prevents the snake from biting and injecting poison. And the jaws are so powerful that they allow the lizard to easily bite the viper in half. After that, the snake will be eaten. The yellowbell eats, biting off its prey piece by piece, and not swallowing it whole. Therefore, this process is lengthy. In their relatives, the yellowbell can bite off the tail, which will also be eaten.

Sad but helpful

As you know, in these representatives of the fauna, the tail grows again. It also happens with the yellowbell. It can shed its tail, which it then grows back.

So, how does the yellow-bellied lizard, the photo of which you will find in this article, cope with small rodents? Very simple. She grabs, for example, a mouse, clamps it in her jaws and starts spinning in place until the rodent loses consciousness. And then the meal begins. Pretty brutal way. But you can't argue with nature. Moreover, the yellow-bellied beetle benefits agriculture by destroying snails, slugs and small rodents that spoil the crop. For the same purposes, you can bring it to your personal plot.

Boy or girl

In autumn, the yellowbell hibernates. After awakening during the spring, the mating season begins. The genitals of the yellowbell lizard are not visible to the naked eye. And armed with a microscope, you can’t see them. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish externally a male from a female. In nature, they distinguish each other on their own and do not need human help. And in research labs, specialists know how to do this by observing lizards and doing research.

New individuals

In nature, lizards live 30-35 years. Puberty occurs as early as 4 years, when the reptile is about half a meter long. After fertilization, the female lays eggs. Usually no more than 6-10 pieces in one litter. The eggs are oval in shape and measure 2-4 centimeters in transverse diameter. Within 30-60 days, the female guards her cubs and the nest hidden in the foliage. Warmth is what is important for the development of small lizards. It is best if the ambient temperature is about +30 degrees. As a result, cubs about 15 centimeters long are born. Yellowbells can live in captivity. But they will breed only if the owner guesses correctly with the determination of sex and puts a female and a male in one terrarium. And guessing will be very difficult.

Pets

But usually reptiles are brought in not for the sake of reproduction, but to observe their life. Especially the owners like the process of feeding. After all, it is possible to give food to the yellow-tubby from the hand. But do not forget that an untamed lizard will be afraid of you and douse you with liquid odorous excrement. It will take some time for the pet to get used to it.

Prepare a flat, horizontal terrarium, the bottom of which is filled with sand interspersed with coarse gravel. Make shelters. After all, the yellow-bellied in nature hides from heat and rain. It is necessary to install a lamp to maintain the optimum temperature. The terrarium should have a feeder and drinker. In captivity, lizards eat the same things as in nature: insects, rodents, eggs and fruits. You can also give small pieces of meat or chicken. The main thing is to monitor the health of the pet and not give something that will make him feel bad.

Our nature is full of miracles. The legless yellowbell lizard, interesting facts about which you found in this article, is one of them. We wish you to meet her in nature to see for yourself what an interesting creature she is.