Name gray snake. Snakes of Russia

There are many legends, fairy tales and sayings about these scaly reptiles. They are described as cautious and secretive animals. Due to the fact that they rarely catch the eye of a person, myths have been created about them, for example, that each of them is a danger. In fact, a reptile attack on a person is a rarity. AT wild nature, the snake does not seek to fight with a large predator.

Some popular snake species names: anaconda, king cobra, rice, reticulated brown, rattlesnake, efa, black mamba, tiger, sand python, etc. Next, we will consider each individual species in more detail.

Poisonous snakes

Black Mamba

One of the most dangerous reptiles in the world. This venomous snake distributed in Africa. Black is incredibly dangerous. Its bite can quickly kill a person (within 40 minutes). But, if the antidote is injected in time, it will be possible to avoid a fatal outcome.

When bitten, a person feels severe pain. A necrotic edematous area appears at the puncture site. As the toxic substance spreads, symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness, and nausea appear.

The snake got its name not because of the black color of the mouth. The snake itself is more gray-olive than black. The black mamba feeds on birds bats and rodents.

King Cobra

She tops the list of the most dangerous scaly animals in the world. This view of the snake in the photo looks intimidating, and this is not surprising, because the cobra is huge. Her body color is olive.

This animal is known for its impressive size and incredible poisonousness. The maximum size of her body is 5.5 meters. In the wild, the king cobra lives for about 30 years. It is very dangerous not only for humans, but also for large mammals living in the Asian tropics.

The snake hides not only in burrows and caves, but also in trees. Its main food is rodents.

She will never bite a person if she does not feel a threat emanating from him. Usually, trying to protect itself, the animal bites several times without even injecting poison. But, if its toxin still enters the human body, it will lead to paralysis and respiratory arrest. Interesting fact about the king cobra! She can live without food for up to 3 months.

Gaboon viper

Another dangerous snake species. Its body is covered with reddish, white, black and light brown scales. The Gaboon viper is one of the most massive snakes in wildlife. Found in the African savannas. Loves moisture.

The maximum body size of a reptile is 2 meters. Despite the presence of poison, the snake rarely attacks people. The reason is a peaceful nature. The Gaboon is considered one of the least cautious snake species. She rarely reacts to irritants, preferring to wait out the danger in a secluded place. However, these animals still attacked people, but only when they provoked them.

Since the Gaboon viper is not only careless, but also rather slow, it can be easily caught without any effort. To feast on a frog or a lizard, this scaly one lies in cover for a long time, choosing the optimal time to attack. It only hunts at night.

desert taipan

Without a doubt, this is the most toxic of all terrestrial scaly. Its second name is "fierce snake". She lives on the Australian continent. There were individuals more than 2.5 meters long.

The color of taipan scales is yellow-straw. Its front is slightly lighter. It is worth noting that the lower the air temperature, the darker the color of the snake. Like other representatives of its species, the desert taipan feeds on rodents. It is not classified as an aggressive animal.

reticulated snake

Appearance of the snake scary enough. The color of her body can be brown, gray-brown and yellowish. The average body measurement is 1.5 meters. It is found on the island of New Guinea, as well as in Indonesia.

Moisture mesh brown snake can not stand. Most often, it can be found in dry forest or mountainous areas. But the desert does not attract her, because there is little where you can hide from direct sunlight.

This reptile is extremely dangerous. He has thousands of people killed. The fact is, it quite often creeps into human settlements. The reason is the search for house mice that you can eat. The reticulated brown snake also feeds on other scaly animals.

Texas rattlesnake

Despite the calm and balanced disposition of the Texas rattlesnake, its poison can kill a person. He is found in Canada. Due to the small notch on the top of their head, rattlesnakes are also called "pitheads".

This is a rather pretty scaly animal, the body of which is painted in a brownish-brown color. One individual can have a mass of up to 8 kg. In winter, the animal is less active, as it receives an insufficient amount of ultraviolet radiation. His diet:

• bird eggs;
• frogs;
• small rodents;
• Lizards.

When the rattlesnake feels threatened, it tries to defend itself by vigorously tapping the ground with its tail.

efa

A very dangerous animal whose venom is extremely toxic. This is a small scaly (up to 1 meter). Efa is a good camouflage. The nondescript color of the scales allows it not to stand out in its natural environment. The animal is widespread in Africa and Asia.

common viper

This kind of snake widely known. It lives not only in Europe, but also in Asia. This is one of the smallest poisonous scaly. By the way, a viper bite is rarely fatal, but it can cause serious health problems, such as fainting.

In nature, red-brown and light brown representatives of this species are found. This snake is inactive, however, during the breeding season (November-December), it becomes quite mobile.

egg-eating snake

Found in Africa. Based on the name of the species, it is easy to conclude that it feeds on eggs. Such a phenomenon as sexual dimorphism is not observed in these snakes. The peculiarity of these individuals is in very mobile cranial bones.

They allow egg-eaters to open their mouths wide, swallowing even large eggs. It should be noted that the shell is not digested by the snake's stomach, therefore, after swallowing, the animals expectorate it. In a pile of leaves, it is quite difficult to notice such a scaly one, since it does not stand out with a variegated color. There are light and dark individuals of this species.

Worm Snake

This individual is very similar in appearance to an enlarged earthworm. The worm-like blind snake is a small representative of the class of scaly animals, its body length does not exceed 35 cm.

From the earthworm, this snake is distinguished by the presence of shiny scales, it is difficult not to notice. Dark stripes can be seen on the lateral parts of her body. The species is distributed in Dagestan, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and the Balkans.

By analogy with worms, blind snakes dig holes in the ground. They feed exclusively on insects. As for interaction with people, this individual does not pose any danger to them.

radiant snake

One of the most beautiful of its kind. The body of the radiant snake has an iridescent tint. Moreover, it appears even in the presence of artificial light. The habitat of the animal is Southeast Asia.

He is attracted to wet forest areas with loose soil. Most of the day, the snake spends in it, performing burrowing actions. This is a nocturnal species of scaly, which hides in burrows or wooden snags during the day. The radiant snake always avoids people, but once captured, it will not give up. The individual will break out, bite and emit stench.

Getting out of the ground, the animal strives to catch prey as quickly as possible and return to a secluded place from which it crawled out. His caution was the reason for the emergence of another useful property - the rapid swallowing of the victim.

Already ordinary

Distributed on the Euro-Asian continent. Already stands out from other snakes with small yellow marks along the edges of the head. In this species of scaly, sexual dimorphism is clearly visible: the female snake is much larger than the male.

The main food of this snake is small frogs. But she can eat fish or mice. In the wild, he often becomes the prey of other animals, especially predatory birds.

climbing snake

This snake is interesting for its predilection for trees. By analogy with a boa constrictor, the snake wraps around the victim with the whole body and suffocates her. By the way, it feeds on small vertebrates and bird eggs, less often - iguanas. Dark thin stripes run along the entire length of its reddish-brown body. The scales of this snake are very smooth.

Copperhead common

This nondescript snake is distributed throughout almost the entire territory of modern Europe. Despite the ability to swim well, copperheads rarely crawl into humid forest zones, they are attracted to forest clearings.

The main food of this snake is small lizards. By the way, she hunts them only during the day. Very rarely, copperhead attacks mice or sparrows. Among the representatives of this species, cases of cannibalism have been recorded. The main forest enemy of such an animal is.

Boas

Anaconda

The most famous type of boa constrictor. Anaconda is famous huge size, up to 6.5 meters in length. No modern snake can boast of such dimensions. It is found in the South American tropics.

Interesting fact! In 1944, the longest in the world was found. The length of her body was more than 11 meters. The scales of this huge boa constrictor are dark green in color. There may be dark circles on his body, and yellow ones on the sides. Despite the absence of poison, this animal can harm a person, first of all, with painful bites. But, you won’t have to wait for damage from him if you don’t disturb him.

Anaconda loves water, so it can be found near rivers and lakes. She can lie under the sun for a long time, basking, but most days, however, spends in the water. By the way, that's where she molts. Most often, water birds become the prey of the anaconda, but it also preys on mammals, lizards and fish.

common boa constrictor

Boa constrictor - a type of snake, which rarely creeps into dry areas. It is found near water bodies. This species is common in Central America. Feathered and small animals become its prey.

Due to the lack of venom and interesting appearance, some people prefer to keep these large scaly ones at home. However, you need to be prepared for the fact that in captivity they will have to be fed live rodents or chickens. Unusual patterns are visible on the body of an individual. She reaches sexual maturity at 3 years of age.

dog-headed boa

This beautiful light green boa is found in the South American tropics. It is considered one of the largest snakes, up to 3 meters long. On the back of this animal, white scales can be clearly seen, forming thin uneven stripes.

The dog-headed boa is very fond of trees. Thanks to a tenacious tail, it is able to firmly gain a foothold on a thick branch, even hanging upside down. This is one of the few types of snakes that are easy to tame. In captivity, he behaves calmly and cautiously, most of the day, resting. The diet of the dog-headed boa is made up of birds.

sand boa

Tree Mascarene boa

Very rare species, endemic to Round Island. The maximum length is one and a half meters. A feature of the species is a sharp tail tip. The color of the scales of the animal is dark olive or brown. But on his body there may be white small stripes. The lifestyle is nocturnal.

To be afraid of snakes - do not go into the jungle. Mowgli.

Compilation beautiful photos snakes - poisonous and not very - from all continents.

Keeled grass already. The snake is non-venomous, and in the photo, the snake yawns after a hearty meal to set its jaw in place and restore breathing.

Jameson's mamba, a graceful green snake under two meters long, whose venom has a nerve-paralytic effect. Muscles fail respiratory system and the victim slowly but surely suffocates. Then the snake eats it. Lives in Africa. There is also a black mamba, its length is 4 meters, which is just as poisonous as the green one, but they are more afraid of it. There is a belief that if a black mamba crossed the path, expect death. Or she will crawl and bite, or you will simply die from an accident. It is believed that mamba bites are fatal, but this is not true. If you take the serum within an hour after the bite, then survival is guaranteed. It is almost impossible to run away from the snake, the mamba moves at a speed of 11 km/h.

Mamba Jason. Photo by Matthias Klum for National Geographic

Rainbow boa, lives in South America, especially a lot of boas in the Amazon. It feeds on small animals, the largest animal it can suffocate is a large rat. If they feel danger, they can bite, but they are not poisonous.

Non-venomous Mexican king snake from the family of already-shaped. Lives in Mexico, sometimes found in Texas.

Grape (sharp-headed) snake, lives in Venezuela. Since it is very beautiful and non-poisonous, it is often kept in terrariums. The snake bite is toxic but not fatal. The main thing is to take action in time.

The weevil lives in North and South America. It is completely safe for humans. Timid and shy, at the slightest danger they release a smelly liquid and crawl away. In general, these are such reptiles "skunks".

Yellow bellied snake. Her official name is a two-color bonito, lives in salty sea ​​water in water areas. Very poisonous, lives in the Far East. This is the only representative of its kind, it absorbs air with the whole body, rarely gets out. It hides in algae, from where it emerges, bites the victim, stuns it with its tail, and then strangles and eats. In general, these are three in one, a kind of sea cobra-boa constrictor, and even a dangerous fighter.

Rainbow shieldtail. A very rare snake in South America. In total, three specimens were caught, very little is known about snakes of this species, it is not even clear whether they are poisonous or not, but in general shieldtails are mostly non-venomous. In the sun, the skin of the rainbow shieldtail shimmers like a precious sapphire.

Texas snake or white rat snake. As the name implies, it lives in Texas, as well as in Mexico. Not dangerous, not poisonous, nobly beautiful. An ideal specimen for keeping in a home terrarium.

Snake (rat snake) Baird. Very beautiful chameleon snake. On pebbles and sand it has a reddish-rusty color, and on the ground it becomes steel-colored, the scales are cast with polished metal. Very rare color.

red tide

Changes color

metal shimmer

Coral albino snake found in Texas, a rare subspecies of coral snakes. Poisonous. The color is as if Russian patterns are embroidered on the skin.

Coral snake living on the Hindustan peninsula. A rare case of mimicry, when the color of a coral snake is longitudinal, not transverse.

The red-headed is an extremely beautiful and poisonous snake that inhabits Vietnam, the islands of Malaysia and Indonesia. Very venomous, may eat other snakes. It is similar in color to a two-striped glandular snake, in which the upper stripe is not blue, but dark blue, almost black. Also poisonous, and also very dangerous. He also eats snakes.

Carpet python. Beeline-style snake, not otherwise. And why the company did not choose such a logo for itself, it would be fun. Lives in Australia and Indonesia. It is not poisonous, but can easily suffocate.

Mellendorff snake, a non-venomous snake common in Southeast Asia.

The rainbow snake lives in the southeastern United States, feeding on marine life and small amphibians. Non-aggressive, but if it feels danger, it can bite. Not poisonous.

The king collared snake lives in the USA and Mexico. Typically, these snakes are gray with dark or cream spots on the underside that turn bright red and orange at the tail.

The common garter snake has the rudiments of a true live birth. The Californian subspecies of this snake is critically endangered.

Snakes, scientifically speaking, are a suborder of the class of reptiles of the scaly order. Snakes can be found on all continents of the Earth, except for cold Antarctica.

Among the snakes there are poisonous species, but most snakes are not poisonous. Poisonous snakes use their venom primarily for hunting, and in self-defense, they use it only when absolutely necessary.

Many non-venomous snakes first suffocate their prey (a snake and a boa constrictor, for example), and only swallow the prey whole.

Anaconda

The largest snake in nature is the anaconda.

Again, scientifically speaking, anacondas are a genus of snakes consisting of several species. And the largest snake species is the giant anaconda, the photo of which you see above.

The largest giant anaconda caught weighed 97.5 kg with a length of 5.2 meters. This snake was caught in Venezuela in wild jungle. Residents of remote villages claim to have seen larger anacondas, but there is no evidence of the existence of larger specimens.

Like the other three anaconda species discussed below, the giant anaconda spends most of its time in the water. Anacondas prefer bodies of water with no current or with a weak current. They are found in lakes, oxbow lakes, quiet rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

Anaconda does not move far from water. Basically, anacondas crawl ashore to bask in the sun.

As we wrote earlier, anacondas belong to the subfamily of boas. Now let's talk about boas.

Boa

Boas are mostly large ovoviviparous snakes. The subfamily of boas is mainly known for the genus of common boas. The most typical representative of this genus is the common boa constrictor of the same name. Individuals of this species reach 5.5 meters in length.

Boa constrictors strangle their prey, wrapping rings around it.

Boas of this species can have an unusual color, given that they are very unpretentious in keeping, they are often kept in terrariums.

But in terrariums it is popular to keep another type of boas - dog-headed boas.

Dog-headed boas are beautiful red-orange when young and bright green when mature. The length of this type of boas does not exceed three meters.

Another representative of boas with a bright color is the rainbow boa.

This type of boa constrictor is also popular with those who like to keep snakes at home.

Cobra

Some of the most famous snakes are cobras. Science identifies 16 species of cobras, many of which are quite large.

Cobra has an amazing skill, she can raise her body to a vertical position. If the cobra is large, then in this position it can be on a par with a person.

Cobras are poisonous snakes. Their bite can be very dangerous to humans.

Cobras are heat-loving snakes, they never live in countries where snow falls in winter.

Vipers

Vipers are the inhabitants of our latitudes. Vipers are poisonous snakes, the mention of which causes fear in people.

Vipers can have very various colors. Each subspecies can be very different in appearance from other subspecies, while all subspecies of vipers have a characteristic zigzag on the back.

Vipers are active during the day, they love the sun and spend a lot of time basking in the sun.

If the viper smells a person, she prefers to retire. These are completely non-conflict snakes, and if you do not touch them

Already

One of the most peaceful snakes of our nature is already. This snake is easily recognizable by the yellow spots on its head.

Already.

They are no longer poisonous and there is no reason to be afraid of them. The snakes live on the banks of calm water bodies, such as lakes and swamps, backwaters and oxbow lakes.

Already.

It is worth noting that there is a subspecies of snakes that lives far from water bodies.

Copperheads

Copperheads are small snakes that live on the edges of forests. Copperheads feed mainly on lizards, sometimes insects.

Copperhead.

Although copperheads have poisonous teeth, their size is too small and their mouth is not capable of grabbing a person. Except for the finger. But even in this case, their bite does not pose a serious danger.

Outwardly, the copperhead looks like a small viper. The rhombuses and zigzag patterns on the back of the copperfish are very similar to those of the viper.

Polozy

Snakes are a generalized name for several types of snakes.

In our area, the Caspian snake is known - it is a fairly large snake, it is not poisonous, but very aggressive.

Caspian snake.

It is because of the aggressiveness that they do not like snakes. Although they do not pose a danger to life, and when meeting with them, you can simply go on your way.

On the islands of Japan, you can find island snakes, which are distinguished by an unusual color. This species is a resident of the sea coast.

We will end our story with a description of one of the largest snakes on the planet - a python.

The python can reach a length of four meters, which is about a meter less than the anaconda, but still impressive.

Despite their large size, pythons are very agile and smart predators. Outwardly, they could be attributed to boas, but pythons are a separate genus of snakes.

Pythons are native to Asia and Australia, and can also be found in parts of Africa. Pythons always live near bodies of water, although their life may not be connected with water. There are species of pythons that spend most of their time in the crowns of trees.

cat snakes

Cat snakes are a genus of small snakes that are distant relatives already. The genus consists of 12 species that are distributed in Africa, southern Europe and southwestern Asia.

One species lives in Russia - the Caucasian cat snake. These snakes in Russia can only be found in Dagestan.

Already - a fast and agile snake. There are signs by which you can distinguish the snake from the viper. Experts and owners of terrariums talk about the intelligence of snakes, but they advise you to remember that not all snakes are harmless.

Common snake, photo by Marek Szczepanek

How to distinguish snake from viper?

Eyes. The pupils of snakes are round, while those of vipers have the shape of a transverse “stick”. A characteristic feature of most snakes are well-developed eyes:

They have a round, oval or vertical pupil, like a cat's, and often have a brightly colored iris, usually well in harmony with the general color of the body. Snakes, looking for their prey mainly with the help of vision, have greatly enlarged eyes adapted to react to moving objects (Animal Life, Volume 5).

So: the pupils of snakes are round, while those of vipers are in the form of a stick, which is located across the body.

Coloring. The coloration of the snakes is varied. Among them there are snakes of dark olive, brown, brown and even almost black color. Some snakes have variegated skin with bright patterns. It is possible that this is the protective nature of the coloration, the desire to imitate poisonous snakes. The family of snakes is numerous. Therefore, in order not to confuse the snake with poisonous snake, you need to know the characteristics of precisely those species that are found in a particular area. Consider three types of the genus snakes (Natrix) subfamilies Real snakes (Colubrinae).

ordinary snake “distinguishes well from all our other snakes with two large, clearly visible light spots (yellow, orange, off-white) located on the sides of the head. These spots have a semi-lunar shape, and are bordered in front and behind by black stripes. There are individuals in which light spots are weakly expressed or absent. The color of the upper side of the body is from dark gray to black, the belly is white, with irregular black spots ”(“ Animal Life, Volume 5).

Perhaps the advice of a well-known snake-catcher will help someone:

It was quite simple to distinguish a snake from a viper: yellow or red spots resembling ears stand out sharply on the snake's head, and its body is monotonous - dark gray or black. Vipers do not have “ears” on their heads, their bodies are gray or reddish, and a zigzag stripe stands out sharply on their backs (A Nedyalkov. A naturalist in search).

Water already colored differently. This snake is different from the common snake, although it often coexists with it.

The color of the back is olive, olive-gray, olive-greenish or brownish in color with dark more or less staggered spots or with narrow dark transverse stripes. There is often a dark spot on the back of the head, shaped like a Latin letter V, pointing towards the head. Belly yellowish to reddish, mottled with more or less rectangular black spots. Occasionally there are specimens completely devoid of a dark pattern on the body or completely black (“Animal Life”, Volume 5).

Zmeelov A. Nedyalkov warns that it is dangerous to rely only on the color of the snake's skin. Once a viper taught him a lesson that could have ended in tragedy:

I did not yet know that there were vipers painted solid black, and for my ignorance I almost paid a heavy price.

One day I was walking through the forest after rain and saw that the black body of a large snake stretched across the path. The snake's head was hidden in the grass. The black body means not a viper, but already. I really needed a big one, I bent down and without any precautions took the snake with my bare hand by the torso. The snake hissed. Snakes, when they are picked up, usually do not hiss. The catcher's reflex worked for me, and with my other hand I grabbed the snake by the neck so that it could not reach me with its teeth. I look - and she has a pupil in the shape of a wand. Viper!

I was saved from a bite by the fact that the viper was very cold after the rain, and the chilled snakes are rather lethargic and clumsy (A Nedyalkov. Naturalist in search).

Brindle already , which is found in the Far East of Russia (as well as in Northern China, Korea, Japan), is painted brightly and elegantly:

The back is dark green or dark olive (occasionally blue specimens are also found), mottled with more or less clear black transverse stripes or spots, gradually decreasing as they approach the tail. In the anterior third of the body, the spaces between the black spots are painted bright brick red. Under the eye there is an oblique black wedge-shaped strip, with its apex pointing downwards; another black stripe runs from the supraorbital shield to the corner of the mouth. There is a wide black collar on the neck, or on the sides of the neck there are one triangular-shaped spot. The upper lip is yellow, the eyes are large, black ("Animal Life", Volume 5).

Smell. The snakes have another difference from other snakes. Alarmed snakes smell disgusting:

Already waved his tail and doused me with a stream of whitish stinking liquid. The stench was terrible: a mixture of fumes of garlic and some chemical. I almost vomited, but I still threw the grass snake on the shore. I rubbed my skin for an hour and a half with soap, sand, and alcohol, but I could not remove the smell (A. Nedyalkov “Dangerous Paths of a Naturalist”).

It is believed that in those places where snakes are found, there are no vipers. It's a delusion:

In addition to vipers, snakes were also found near the ditches. They say that snakes are at enmity with vipers and kill them. I have seen more than once how snakes and vipers lie side by side and calmly bask in the sun. And I have never seen them fight (A. Nedyalkov "The Naturalist in Search").

Types of snakes

There are many different snakes, but these three species are the most common in our country.

(Natrix natrix ) is found in Europe (except the Far North). It is a black or dark gray snake up to 1.5 m in size (usually 1 m, females are larger than males) with two yellow or bright orange spots on the sides of the head. The snake can be found in overgrown bushes near water, in humid forests and in swamps. Already ordinary sometimes settles near people's homes: in heaps of garbage in the yard, in sheds, barns, cellars and poultry yards. He often "nails" to chickens and ducks or crawls into stables and barnyards. The snake even lays eggs here that resemble those of a pigeon. A dinner egg is filled with a yolk surrounded by a thin layer of protein. The eggs are covered with a leathery shell. The female lays eggs bound by a gelatinous substance in "beads". Egg-laying can be found in dunghills, in a pile of dry leaves, damp moss, or in loose earth. Eggs can be 15 - 17 (rarely up to 30 pieces). About three weeks pass, and the snakes are born. The length of a duckling that has just hatched from an egg is about 15 cm. It is able to eat worms, snails and various insects.

The common snake hibernates on land: it hides in old burrows made by mammals, crawls under the roots of trees, etc.

Water already (Natris tesselata) lives in the southern regions of Russia, as it is more thermophilic than ordinary. There are many such snakes in the Volga region and on the Don. Often a water snake is seen in the Crimea (especially on the Kerch Peninsula). These snakes keep near water, not only fresh, but also salty. They are great swimmers (even with a big wave) and dive. They feed on frogs, tadpoles, small fish (gobies) and even shrimps. Rarely by small mammals and birds. In order to make it easier for the snake to swallow the fish, the snake holds it in its mouth and swims to the shore. There he finds support for his body, settles comfortably near it, after which he proceeds to swallow the prey. These snakes hide from the heat underwater. Snakes sleep in dry grass, in hay, climb into rodent burrows, under stones. In the morning, water snakes slowly crawl out onto the banks of rivers and reservoirs. Snakes hibernate under stones, in crevices and in dense bushes.

already brindle (Rhabdophis tigrina) in Russia is found in the south of the Far East (Primorsky Krai, near Khabarovsk) in wet areas near water, in forests and meadows. They are seen even in cities. The length of the snake is about 110 cm. It already feeds on frogs, toads, small rodents and fish. This snake is considered conditionally venomous, as its poisonous teeth are located deep in the mouth (on the back of the maxillary bone).

For humans, tiger snake bites, usually inflicted by short front teeth, pass without a trace. However, in cases where the bite is applied by enlarged posterior maxillary teeth lying deep in the mouth, and saliva and the secretion of the upper labial glands enter the wound in large quantities, it may occur severe poisoning, not inferior in its severity to that of the bite of real poisonous snakes ("Life of animals, volume 5).

Nutrition of snakes

Snakes swim well and often get their food not only on land, but also in water. The diet of snakes mainly consists of small vertebrates: amphibians and reptiles. However, there are lovers of rodents, birds and fish. Frogs are a delicacy for snakes. He catches them in the water and on the shore. Hungry already swallows several small frogs at once. In the water, he preys on tadpoles and fish.

Watching him eat is annoying. He swallows the frogs alive, just as some people swallow live oysters. The discrepancy between the size of the frog and the snake makes the process of eating a terrible sight - a big mouth of a snake with a small head, a thin body in which a swallowed frog sticks out with a terrible knot ... As a child, I somehow got caught with such a knot around my neck. I poked it with a stick - a living and unharmed frog jumped out from the inside, it was still crawling, but it was completely white: the stomach juice of the snake had discolored it (Hans Scherfig "The Pond").

The snake is said to hypnotize its prey. Outwardly, it looks exactly like this. A. Nedyalkov saw with his own eyes how the frog obediently approached the snake:

I have been told many times that snakes hypnotize frogs. But this time the "hypnosis" did not take place. In order to see everything better, I took a branch of the bush. The frog noticed the movement of the branch and made a desperate jump, turning over its head in the air. He continued to lie still. Looking closely, I saw that from time to time he throws out a forked tongue from his closed lips. I did not disturb the snake and returned to my place. Five minutes later, near the same bush, the frog purred again. I went back to the bush. He was already lying in the same place, and the frog again purred and crept up to him. She did not jump, but, carefully rearranging her paws, she crawled like soldiers crawl in a plastunsky way. This time I did not move the branches, and soon the frog approached the snake at a distance of twenty centimeters. Suddenly he rushed to the frog and grabbed it by the end of the muzzle with his mouth. The frog thrashed, but she could not escape. Fingering his jaws, he grabbed her tighter and tighter. The frog no longer purred, but desperately scraped the snake's head with its paws. The jaws of the snake kept moving and moving. The frog's eyes were already at the very edge of its mouth. I felt sorry for the wah, and I pushed the snake with the end of the grabber. He didn't immediately let go of his prey. Only after I squeezed his neck quite hard with a gripper did he open his mouth and the frog escaped. She immediately jumped into the grass, and only slipped into the thick of the bush ... I don’t think that I could hypnotize the frog. Most likely, she noticed his moving tongue, mistook this tongue for a worm, wanted to eat this worm and herself became the prey of the snake (A. Nedyalkov “The Naturalist in Search”).

Manual already

Snakes have been kept in captivity since ancient Rome. Then they caught mice. Nowadays, there are also lovers who keep snakes at home. They advise designing a terrarium as a “forest + pond”. It is advisable to feed snakes with frogs and live small fish. Snakes are considered intelligent snakes that are able to get used to humans. Here is what Hans Scherfig recalls about the acquaintance in the book “The Pond”:

He was so sweet and kind. A real domestic already, which was not afraid of people. He even got rid of the old bad habit of hissing and emitting an unpleasant smell when you touch him. Frightened snakes smell like garlic.

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This vast subfamily includes the vast majority of the considered snakes (more than 1400 species). They are characterized by a slender and long body with a small oblong head, more or less distinctly separated from the neck, covered from above by usually 9 large symmetrically arranged scutes. The maxillary teeth are in most cases equal in size, or the posterior ones are laterally compressed, noticeably enlarged, and often separated from the rest by a small toothless gap. In most species, the pupil is round, but in some it looks like a vertical slit or a horizontally located ellipse.

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Within this vast group of snakes, almost all the main life forms are found - terrestrial, tree-climbing, burrowing, leading an underground and semi-aquatic lifestyle.

Rod Uzhi(Natrix) combines medium-sized snakes, characterized by scales with pronounced longitudinal ribs. The head is well demarcated from the neck, the pupils of the eyes are round. The maxillary teeth increase towards the depth of the mouth, in some species the last 2-3 of them are greatly enlarged and separated from the rest by a toothless gap.

All snakes are to varying degrees associated with water bodies. They feed mainly on amphibians, reptiles and fish, swallowing their prey alive. They reproduce either by laying eggs or by giving birth to live young (ovoviviparous). This includes more than 60 species. Most of them are distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere; 20 species are found in North and Central America, one species in Australia, one in Tropical and South Africa, all others in Eurasia. 4 species live in the USSR.

ordinary snake(Natrix natrix) - the most famous and widespread species of the genus. It is well distinguished from all our other snakes by two large, clearly visible light spots (yellow, orange, off-white) located on the sides of the head. These spots are semi-lunar in shape and bordered in front and behind by black stripes. Sometimes there are individuals in which light spots are weakly expressed or absent. The color of the upper side of the body is from dark gray or brown to black, the belly is white, however, an uneven black stripe stretches along the midline of the abdomen, which in some individuals is so widened that it displaces almost the entire White color, remaining only in the throat area. Body length can reach 1.5 m, but usually does not exceed 1 m; females are noticeably larger than males. It already inhabits North Africa, all of Europe, with the exception of its northernmost parts, and Asia east to Central Mongolia. Further than all other species of its genus, it moves north, on the Scandinavian Peninsula almost reaches the Arctic Circle. The southern border of the range runs through South Palestine and Central Iran. In the USSR, it inhabits the entire European part countries, reaching South Karelia, Perm and Chelyabinsk regions, Siberia, to the east - to Transbaikalia. It is also found in Southwestern Turkmenistan and Eastern Kazakhstan.

Habitats are very diverse, but certainly quite wet. Snakes are especially numerous along the banks of calm rivers, lakes, ponds, grass swamps, in moist forests and floodplain meadows covered with bushes, but sometimes they are found even in the open steppe and in the mountains. They often live in vegetable gardens, gardens, barnyards and sometimes crawl into various outbuildings. In spring, and also in autumn, when the soil stores a lot of moisture, snakes can go far from water.

The shelters of snakes are voids under the roots of trees, heaps of stones, rodent burrows, haystacks, gaps between the logs of bridges, dams and other shelters. Sometimes they settle in basements, under houses, in heaps of manure or garbage. In fallen leaves and loose soil, snakes can make their own moves.

Common snakes are very active, agile snakes. They crawl quickly, can climb trees and swim well with the help of the lateral bends of the body characteristic of snakes. They can move away from the coast for many kilometers and stay under water for several tens of minutes without surfacing. Usually they swim, raising their heads above the surface of the water and leaving characteristic ripples behind them, so the snakes moving along the pond are clearly visible.

They are active during daylight hours, and hide in shelters at night. They hunt mainly in the morning and evening hours. During the day they like to bask in the sun, curled up on the creases of reeds, stones, trees bent over the water, hummocks, nests of water birds. In the hottest time, especially in the south, they hide in the shade or descend into the water, where they can lie at the bottom for a long time.

They start mating in late April - May, after the first spring molt. In July - August females lay from 6 to 30 soft, parchment-covered eggs in one portion, which often stick together like a rosary. Eggs easily die from drying out, so snakes lay them in damp, but well-preserved heat (25-30 °) shelters: under fallen leaves, in damp moss, heaps of manure and even garbage dumps, abandoned rodent burrows, rotten stumps. Sometimes, especially when there is a lack of suitable shelters, several females lay eggs in one place. A case is described when over 1200 snake eggs were found under an old door lying in a forest clearing, arranged in several layers.

The embryo passes the initial stages of development in the mother's body, and in the newly laid eggs, the pulsation of the embryo's heart is noticeable to the naked eye. Incubation lasts about 5-8 weeks. Young snakes at the time of exit from the eggs are about 15 cm long; they immediately spread and begin to lead an independent lifestyle. The young lead a much more secretive life than the adults, and are comparatively rarely seen.

For the winter, snakes take refuge in deep rodent burrows, in cracks in coastal cliffs, under the roots of rotten trees. Sometimes they winter alone, often several individuals together, and do not avoid the close proximity of snakes of other species. They leave for wintering relatively late, in October - November, when night frosts already begin. Awakening from hibernation occurs in March - April. On warm days, snakes begin to crawl out of their winter shelters and for a long time they bask near them in the sun, sometimes gathering in balls of many individuals together. With each spring day, the snakes become more active and gradually creep away from their wintering places. In Eastern and Northern Europe, winter hibernation of snakes lasts up to 8-8.5 months, in the south it is somewhat less.

Common grass snakes feed on small frogs, toads and their young. Occasionally, lizards, small birds and their chicks, as well as small mammals, including newborn cubs of water rats and muskrats, become their prey. Young snakes often catch insects. The common belief that snakes feed on fish and are very harmful to fish farming is based on a misunderstanding. Small fish are eaten by these snakes rarely and in small quantities. Even in reservoirs rich in fish, snakes sometimes swim among such dense flocks of fry that they literally push them aside with their bodies, and yet in the stomachs of caught snakes it was possible to find not fish, but only young frogs. For one hunt, a large one can swallow up to 8 frogs or large tadpoles of a lake frog. The frogs that are pursued by snakes behave in a very peculiar way: although it would be easier for them to escape with large jumps, they make short and rare jumps and make a cry that is completely different from the sounds we are used to hearing from them. This cry is more like the mournful bleating of a sheep. The pursuit rarely lasts long, and usually the snake very soon overtakes its prey, grabs it and immediately begins to swallow it alive. Usually he tries to grab the frog by the head, but often he fails, and he grabs it by the hind legs and begins to slowly pull it into his mouth. The frog beats violently and makes croaking sounds. It swallows small frogs easily, but sometimes it spends several hours devouring large individuals. If the snake is in danger, then it usually regurgitates, like other snakes, the swallowed prey, and it opens its mouth very wide if the swallowed animal was large. There have been cases that snakes belched live frogs, which, despite being in the throat of a snake, turned out to be quite viable in the future.

Like all snakes, snakes are able to do without food for a long time. A case is known when a snake starved for more than 300 days without harm to itself. They drink snakes, especially on hot days, a lot.

There are a lot of enemies already. They are eaten by serpent eagles, storks, kites and many predatory mammals (raccoon dogs, foxes, minks, martens). Serious enemies of snakes are also rats that eat clutches and young snakes. From a person, snakes always try to hide by flight. Unable to crawl away, sometimes they (especially large individuals) take a threatening posture: they curl up in a ball and from time to time throw their heads forward with a loud hiss. Being caught, they bite, but only in exceptionally rare cases, causing light, quickly healing scratches with their teeth. The only means of protection for snakes should be considered an extremely smelly yellowish-white liquid that they release from the cloaca. In many cases, the caught snake quickly stops resisting, throws out the prey from the stomach if it has been eaten recently, and then completely relaxes the body, opens its mouth wide and, with its tongue hanging out, hangs lifelessly in its hands or rolls over onto its back. This state of "imaginary death" quickly passes if the snake is thrown into the water or simply left alone.

Common snakes live well in captivity, quickly begin to take the food offered to them and soon become completely tame. They need water for drinking and bathing.

Water already(Natrix tesselata) is easily distinguished from the common one, with which it often closely coexists. The color of the back is olive, olive-gray, olive-greenish or brownish in color with dark spots more or less staggered or with narrow dark transverse stripes. There is often a dark spot on the back of the head, shaped like a Latin letter V, pointing towards the head. The belly is yellowish to red, mottled with more or less rectangular black spots. Occasionally there are specimens completely devoid of a dark pattern on the body or completely black. Body length reaches 130 cm.

Water snakes are more thermophilic than ordinary ones. They are distributed from southwestern France east to Central Asia. The northern border of the range runs along 49-53 ° N. sh., southern - through North Africa, Palestine, North-West India. In the USSR, they are found in the southern (steppe) parts of Ukraine and the RSFSR, Crimea, Transcaucasia, the Central Asian republics, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In some places they are very numerous: at the mouth of the Volga and other large rivers flowing into the Caspian and Black Seas, you can meet up to several dozen of these snakes for every kilometer of the route. The sea coast and coastal islands of the Apsheron Peninsula (Azerbaijan) are especially famous for the abundance of water snakes.

Water snakes, to a much greater extent than ordinary snakes, are associated with water bodies, outside of which they are very rare. They inhabit not only fresh, but also highly saline waters; not uncommon on sea coasts. They are excellent swimmers, coping even with the rapid flow of mountain streams, and can stay under water for a long time.

Their shelters are voids under stones, rodent burrows, dry hay, sheaves of reeds. Together with hay, water snakes are often brought to villages. They are active during daylight hours, especially in the morning and evening, and at night they come out of the water to the shore. Until the sun warms, snakes are inactive. In the early morning, along the banks of ponds abounding with water snakes, you can easily see and catch a lot of these snakes slowly crawling out of holes, curled up under bushes or settled right on the crowns of undersized shrubs, so that their bodies sag in festoons between thin branches. When the sun begins to bake and the dew comes off, snakes come to life, leave their places of overnight stay and go into the water. In the morning and evening hours they usually hunt, during the day they are very fond of basking in the sun, curled up on creases of reeds, in nests of water birds or on coastal stones. In the hottest time of the day, water snakes can hide under water for a long time.

Mating takes place in April - May. Eggs in quantities from 6 to 23 are laid by females in one portion at the end of June - July; young appear in August. They hibernate in small groups (often together with ordinary snakes) in soil cracks, rodent burrows, stone crevices. Sometimes up to several hundred individuals accumulate in a place convenient for wintering. Usually, water snakes occupy the same winter quarters from year to year and are reluctant to change them to others. With the onset of warm spring days, the snakes begin to crawl out of their winter shelters and, curled up in a ball, bask in the sun for hours. By evening, the snakes again hide in winter shelters. But with the onset of warm days, they become more mobile and gradually move to their summer habitats.

They feed mainly on fish. In the stomachs of medium-sized snakes, sometimes up to 40 small carp 20-30 mm long and small fish up to 12 cm in size were found. Coping with large prey is not easy for snakes. Strongly squeezing the caught fish in its mouth and raising it above the surface of the water, the snake rushes to the shore, where, having a solid support for the body, it gradually swallows it, always starting from the head. Too large fish, which he is no longer able to swallow, he throws right there on the shore. In addition to fish, frogs and tadpoles serve as food for water snakes. Occasionally they also catch small mammals and birds.

In some places snakes can cause serious damage to fish hatcheries and spawning and nursery farms.

In the 1930s, the skin of water snakes in our country was harvested for the needs of the leather industry. In 1931-1932. on the Absheron peninsula in Azerbaijan, 60,000 snakes were caught, and in 1935 - 11,000 pieces.

Brindle already(Natrix tigrina) lives in our Far East in the southern part of Primorsky Krai, as well as in China, Korea and Japan. This is one of the most elegant and beautiful snakes of our fauna. Its back is dark green or dark olive (occasionally blue specimens are also found), mottled with more or less clear black transverse stripes or spots, gradually decreasing as it approaches the tail. In the anterior third of the body, the spaces between the black spots are painted bright brick red. Under the eye there is an oblique black wedge-shaped strip, with its apex pointing downwards; another black stripe runs from the supraorbital shield to the corner of the mouth. On the neck there is a wide black collar or on the sides of the neck there is one triangular spot. The upper lip is yellow, the eyes are large, black. Length up to 110 cm.

These snakes live in damp places, near water bodies, they are found both in deciduous and mixed forests, and in treeless spaces. In July, females lay up to 20-22 eggs, young ones appear in late August - early September. The main food is frogs and toads, fish are occasionally eaten. Tiger snakes do well in captivity and quickly become tame.

Japanese already(Natrix vibakari), like the tiger, is found in the southern part of Primorsky Krai, East China, Korea and Japan. This is a small, graceful and very agile snake, not exceeding 50-60 cm in length. From above, it is a uniform chocolate brown or brownish-reddish color with a greenish tint; the upper surface of the head, the front of the body and the spine are darker than the sides. The upper labials are yellowish, a light yellow stripe runs from the corners of the mouth to the back of the head. The belly is uniformly light green or pale yellow.

Japanese snakes, to a lesser extent than tiger snakes, are associated with water bodies and lead a rather secretive lifestyle. Finding these snakes is easiest under stones, where they willingly hide. They feed on insects and possibly small frogs. Cubs appear in early September, their length is only 15-16 cm.

viper snake(Natrix maura) gets its name from the dark zigzag pattern on its back, giving this snake some superficial resemblance to a viper. On both sides of the zigzag pattern, round dark eye spots stretch at an equal distance from each other. However, individual specimens of these snakes are very similar in color to water snakes, others are completely devoid of spots on their backs and have a single-color olive green or dark gray color. It is found in the countries of the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean. The way of life is very similar to the water snake.

Fish and, to a lesser extent, amphibians make up the prey of the South Asian fisherman snake(Natrix piscator). This large snake, reaching the thickness of the wrist of an adult, is especially numerous in rice fields. Very strong, aggressive snake, very prone to biting.

Indian big-eyed(N. tacrophthalmus) is known for hissing loudly and inflating its neck in a moment of danger, quite accurately imitating the menacing posture of an angry cobra.

In terms of lifestyle, the New World snakes differ little from their European and Asian relatives. Unlike the latter, they are all ovoviviparous: water already(N. sipedon) in the northwestern United States brings up to 60 young at a time.

In South America, where there are no representatives of the genus Natrix, they are replaced by a very close genus of cross-eyed snakes(helicops). These animals got their name for the unusual position of the eyes, which are shifted high up and small in size. All cross-eyed snakes are semi-aquatic animals, never moving away from the banks of rivers, lakes or swamps. They feed mainly on amphibians and fish. In their way of life they are similar to our water snakes, but, unlike the latter, they are viviparous.

Keel-tailed cross-eyed snake(Helicops carinicaudus) reaches a length of about 1 m. The color of the upper side of the body is grayish-brown with dark longitudinal stripes along the back; the belly is yellow, covered with black spots. Distributed in Brazil, Northern Argentina and Uruguay.

To a genus of garter snakes(Thamnophis) refers to about 20 species of the most widespread and numerous snakes North America to the north they reach Canada, in the south - Mexico, where they are most diverse, and Central America. These are medium-sized snakes, rarely reaching a length of 1 m. They are especially characterized by extreme variability (polymorphism) in color and other external features. Usually garter snakes have one to three yellow stripes along the back and two rows of dark spots on the sides of the body. It is not uncommon for the base color of the upper side of the body to be blue, olive, brownish, or a beautiful cream color.

They live near water bodies or in damp lowland places, however, some species, especially in the eastern parts of the continent, are also found far from water bodies. Therefore, this group of snakes is sometimes considered transitional from real snakes (Natrix) leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle to terrestrial genera of the subfamily under consideration. They feed mainly on amphibians, less often on fish, crayfish, small mammals and birds, insects, earthworms. All garter snakes are ovoviviparous and bring up to 40 or even 60 cubs at the same time.

The most famous type is common garter snake(Thamnophis sirtalis).

Wolftooth genus(Lycodon) unites 16 species of small-sized snakes common in South and Southeast Asia. On each side of the upper and lower jaws of these snakes, the front teeth are separated from the back teeth by a wide toothless gap. The front teeth, the number of which varies from 3 to 7, increase sharply in size from front to back, so that the back teeth look like long, backward-curved canines, which is where the name of the genus comes from.

striated wolftooth(Lycodon striatus) is the only representative of the genus that enters the USSR. Distributed in India, Ceylon and Iran, and we live in Southern Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Western Tajikistan. This is a small snake, not exceeding 45 cm in length. From above, it is black or dark brown in color with white or yellow transverse stripes along the entire body; light stripes become more frequent towards the tail. On the sides there is one longitudinal row of light spots, the belly is plain white or yellow, without a pattern. The head is barely separated from the body, the tip of the muzzle is bluntly rounded.

The way of life of this rather rare species in our country is poorly studied. It lives in areas with semi-desert and steppe vegetation, including mountains and foothills, hiding in voids under stones and soil cracks. Feeds mainly on lizards, active only at night. In India and Ceylon, it often lives in human buildings.

House wolftooth(Lycodon aulicus) is widely distributed in India, Burma, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Ceylon, and Indonesia. This small dark-colored snake clearly prefers to settle near a person and is constantly found in residential and utility buildings, not excluding business districts. big cities. Wolftooths spend the day in various cracks, crevices, under the floor or under the roof, and at night they go hunting for night lizards, mainly geckos, numerous in the south in human dwellings. This is a very lively, excellent climbing snake.

Close to wolf teeth small genus Dinodon(Dinodon) has 9 species, distributed mainly in the Eastern Himalayas, Northern Indochina, China and Japan. They are medium-sized, agile, beautiful snakes that are diurnal and feed on amphibians, lizards, small snakes, and rodents. They reproduce by laying eggs.

One member of the genus eastern dynodon(Dinodon orientale) was recently discovered on the island of Shikotan (Kuril Islands) within the USSR. The main area of ​​\u200b\u200bdistribution of the snake lies in Japan south to the island of Kyushu.

Eastern Dinodon reaches a length of 85-90 cm. Its head is black on top, without a pattern. The upper side of the body is light brown or brown-red with black transverse spots along the entire body, the belly is light, with dark speckles in the middle.

Another species of the genus red-belted dynodon(Dinodon rufozonatum) is widely distributed in eastern China, Korea and, according to data not yet confirmed, is found in the southern part of Primorsky Krai and South Sakhalin. This is a beautiful snake black on top with red transverse rings, and yellow-yellow below. Often found near water bodies, where it feeds on frogs and small fish.

Extensive genus of snakes(Coluber) includes about 30 species. This is a medium to large sized snake with a slender, elongated body and a long tail. The scales on the body are smooth or slightly keeled. The coloration is quite varied, but usually dull, with a predominance of gray-brown tones. The pupil is round; the teeth in the upper and lower jaws noticeably increase in the direction of the depth of the mouth, and the two posterior teeth are separated from the rest by a small toothless gap. The snakes are one of the most prosperous and widespread groups of snakes. Their evolution went in the direction of acquiring the ability to move quickly on the ground. In the North American species Coluber flagellum, the maximum known speed of snake movement was recorded - 1.6 m / s. Very cleverly, these animals climb trees and rocks.

They feed on rodents, birds and their eggs, lizards, snakes, amphibians. Prey of large size is strangled not by wrapping around, but by pressing its strong body to the ground. They reproduce by laying eggs. Some species are very aggressive and are among the relatively few snakes that attack humans unprovoked.

Distributed in southern Europe, temperate and tropical Asia, North, East and Central America. In the fauna of the USSR, 8 species are represented.

Yellow-bellied snake, or yellow-bellied(Coluber jugularis), reaches more than 2 m in length and is considered the largest snake in Europe, as well as one of the largest in the fauna of the USSR. The coloration of the upper side of the body is all shades of olive, without a pattern. The belly is yellow, fawn, sometimes reddish. There is usually a yellow spot around the eyes. Yellow-bellied, or, as they are called here, red-bellied, snakes from Transcaucasia are first olive, then reddish, brown-red, and in old individuals cherry-red above. The belly is also reddish tones with a pearly sheen, in young specimens it is grayish-white with yellowish-red spots on the sides.

Distributed in Southern Europe from the Balkan Peninsula to the east to the Ural River, in Western Asia and Asia Minor. Within the USSR, it is found in Moldova, steppe Ukraine, southeastern regions of the European part of the RSFSR, Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia; isolated finds of the yellow-bellied snake are also known in Turkmenistan.

Yellowbelly can be found in the open steppe, in semi-desert, bushes near roads, on rocky mountain slopes, and even in marshy places. During dry periods of the year, it often keeps in floodplains and on riverine terraces. In search of prey and places for laying eggs, it sometimes crawls into utility and residential buildings, under haystacks and mounds.

As a shelter, it uses cracks in the ground, scree in steppe ravines, rodent burrows and low hollows. Usually snakes are very attached to their permanent dwellings and return to them, even having retired a considerable distance.

Yellow-bellied is active only during daylight hours. It feeds on rodents up to the size of ground squirrels, birds and their eggs, lizards, rarely other snakes. This swift and strong snake catches its prey on the go and often eats it without even strangling it; it kills strongly resisting animals, pressing its powerful body to the ground.

It emerges from winter shelters in late April - early May. Females lay eggs in the amount of 7-15 pieces in late June - July, juveniles hatch in late August - September. Up to ten or more individuals sometimes gather for wintering in the same place.

A distinctive feature of the behavior of the yellow-bellied snake is its extraordinary aggressiveness. In the event of an enemy approaching, this snake often does not try to flee, but coils up in a spiral, as poisonous snakes do, hisses angrily and rushes at the enemy; at the same time, it can make jumps up to 1.5-2 m and strives to strike in the face. There are even cases of an unprovoked yellow-bellied attack on a person passing by. Naturally, the vicious disposition of the snake, combined with its solid size, causes fear, and the animal itself - general antipathy. Fantastic stories about giant boas chasing lone travelers in the steppe, which exist in some places in the south of our country, are based on a meeting with a yellow-bellied snake. The yellow-bellied bites painfully, to the point of blood, but it cannot cause serious harm to a person.

olive snake(Coluber najadum) is much smaller than the yellow-bellied. Its length rarely exceeds 1 m, and usually is 60-70 cm. The color of the upper side of the body is olive or light brown, large eye spots are scattered on the sides of the neck and front of the body, surrounded by a dark and light double border. Decreasing towards the tail, the spots gradually lose their edging; two or three spots behind the head are lighter than the rest and often merge with each other. This pattern is especially pronounced in young animals. The head is single-colored from above, light vertical stripes pass in front and behind the eyes. The belly is yellow or greenish-white.

Distributed in the Balkan Peninsula and the islands of the Eastern Adriatic, in Asia Minor and Western Asia, Iran, throughout the Caucasus and in Southwestern Turkmenistan (Kopet-Dag). It lives mainly on rocky sunny slopes covered with shrubs, and sometimes completely devoid of vegetation. Along with open areas of semi-desert or dry steppe, it can be found on the edges of forests, in light forests, gardens, vineyards and ruins. In the mountains it rises up to 1800 m.

In terms of speed and swiftness of movement, the olive snake leaves far behind most other representatives of its kind. A frightened snake usually flees with such swiftness that it is almost impossible to follow its movements, and at best there is only an idea of ​​a gray ribbon that quickly flashed and disappeared. This speed is especially striking when the snake suddenly slips off the branches or stone, where it had previously basked in the sun, and immediately disappears from the eyes, as if dissolving among the stones.

It feeds mainly on lizards, much less often on small rodents and insects. He usually grabs lizards on the move, lying in wait for them in a characteristic pose with a vertically raised front third of the body, from time to time making slow wave-like movements with it. At the same time, dark spots with black and light borders on the sides of the neck mask the snake well against the surrounding background. Small lizards are usually swallowed alive, while larger lizards are strangled by pressing their bodies to the ground or, more rarely, wrapping their bodies around in rings.

A distinctive feature of the olive snake is that, unlike other species of its genus, it lacks the ability to hiss. When in danger, he always tries to hide and is not particularly aggressive. It is active only during daylight hours, in the hottest months it goes hunting only in the morning and in the evening.

multicolored snake(Coluber ravergeri) reaches a length of 130 cm. The color of the upper side of the body is brownish-gray or gray-brown. Brown, sometimes almost black spots or transverse stripes are arranged in a single row along the ridge, sometimes merging into a continuous zigzag strip. The same type of spots are located in one or two rows on the sides of the body. Three dark longitudinal stripes run along the tail, which serve as a continuation of the body spots. On the upper surface of the head there is a group of small dark spots with a light border, sometimes merging into a more or less regular pattern resembling the letter M. From the posterior edge of the eye to the corners of the mouth, a dark stripe is oblique, another, shorter, is under the eye. The belly is greyish-white or pink, often with dark spots.

Distributed in North Africa (Egypt), Western and Asia Minor, Iran, Afghanistan, Northeast India. In the USSR, it is found in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian republics.

The habitats are very diverse: sandy deserts and steppes, semi-deserts, rocky mountain slopes. Much more than our other snakes, it tends to stay close to a person: it is common in gardens, kitchen gardens, vineyards, a constant inhabitant of various kinds of ruins, and often also roofs and attics of inhabited buildings.

As shelters, it uses cracks and cavities between stones, less often - abandoned rodent burrows. There are observations that these snakes are able to dig under stones and tear soft ground with their heads. To do this, the snake puts its head as far as possible under the stone, then bends its neck like a hook and, grabbing sand and small pebbles, makes a sharp movement with its head back, raking out the soil thus captured, which is thrown a few centimeters to the side.

Mating takes place in May. According to observations, in captivity, before mating, the male very actively crawls around the motionless female, crawls over her, moves her from her place and tries in every possible way to stir her up. After some time, the female revives and begins to crawl around the terrarium; the male pursues her and tries to bite her neck. Such games last about an hour, after which the male catches up with his partner, quickly wraps his tail and back of the body around her, holding her neck with his jaws, and mating takes place. In this position, the snakes remain for about half an hour.

Eggs in the amount of 10 to 16 are laid by the female one at a time with an interval of 3-5 minutes. Young appear in September.

It feeds on various small vertebrates from amphibians to mammals inclusive. Small prey (mice, small lizards) are often eaten alive, larger ones are pre-killed.

A snake disturbed by a person emits a loud short hiss and then silently hides in a shelter. However, when caught, it bites fiercely, often biting through the skin until it bleeds. In normal cases, the bites of a multi-colored snake pass without a trace. However, if the saliva of the snake penetrates into the wound in sufficient quantities and it is absorbed, then a typical picture of poisoning is observed. snake venom. A large male of this species grabbed the author deeply, bloody, by the skin membrane between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. After 10-15 minutes, swelling began to form around the bite site, which quickly spread to the back of the hand, and then to the entire arm. I felt dizzy, there were pains in the area of ​​the lymph glands in the armpit. Painful condition and edema were eliminated only by the end of the third day. In general, the poisoning proceeded no easier than from the bite of a steppe viper.

The case described above makes it possible to understand how relatively small snakes can easily cope with large dragons, rats and other animals that they feed on.

spotted snake(Coluber tyria) reaches 1.8 m in length. The general tone of its color varies from brown to light gray, more or less diamond-shaped dark spots stretch along the ridge, between which there is one row of elongated smaller spots on the sides of the body. On the upper surface of the head there is a diadem of two transverse dark brown stripes, which in old individuals often break into pieces. The belly is usually grayish, without spots.

This snake is widespread in North Africa, Western Asia, Western India, Central Asia and the southern part of Kazakhstan, where it lives in sandy and clay deserts and semi-deserts.

Amid the oppressive heat of the desert, overwhelming all living things, the spotted snake always pleases the eye of a naturalist with its activity, fresh brilliance of scales and liveliness, so amazing among hot sand and dust. He shelters in rodent burrows, which snakes use for shelter both in summer time and for winter hibernation. Feeds on lizards, small mammals and insects. The spotted snake is just as vicious and aggressive as the yellow-bellied snake.

striated snake(Coluber karelini) is a small, slender snake, the largest individuals of which do not exceed 90 cm in length. From above, its body is light ash in color, often with a yellowish or brown tint. A row of black and dark gray transverse spots with a blue tint stretches along the back; an oval slate-colored spot is present in the temporal region. The tip of the muzzle is noticeably pointed.

This snake is found in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the southern part of Kazakhstan, where it lives in stony and clayey semi-deserts, fixed sands and foothills.

red-striped snake(C. rhodorachis) reaches about a meter in length. Above the snake is gray, olive-gray or milky-coffee in color, usually somewhat different in the front and back halves of the body. A narrow red or pink stripe runs along the ridge to the middle of the body, and sometimes to the base of the tail. If this stripe is absent, then the front half of the body is covered with dark, narrow transverse spots disappearing towards the tail, between which smaller spots are located on the sides. The belly is light, without spots, the end of the muzzle is pointed.

It is distributed in the UAR, Somalia, on the Arabian Peninsula and in Iran, Afghanistan and Western India, and within the USSR in South Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. It lives in mountains and foothills up to a height of 2300 m, but sometimes it is also found on plains, including deserts. It feeds on lizards, less often on small mammals and birds. Cracks in the soil, ruins, abandoned rodent burrows serve as wintering grounds.

Of the North American snakes, a large black snake(S. constrictor), common in the southern and central half of the United States. This snake reaches 2 x length; in snakes living in the eastern part of the range, the upper side of the body is painted in pure matte black, and in those living in the southwest it has a bluish-green tint. Belly yellowish or pure yellow. Favorite places The habitats of the black snake are the banks of reservoirs, swamps, wet meadows and forests. Like all species of the genus, it climbs, swims and dives well. It feeds on small amphibians, reptiles, birds, bird eggs and small mammals. Often attacks small snakes, including poisonous ones. Females lay from 3 to 40 eggs.

Very close to the snakes discussed above genus of big-eyed snakes(Ptyas), uniting 8-10 species distributed mainly in South and Southeast Asia.

The most famous member of the genus is big-eyed snake(Ptyas mucosus). This is one of the largest non-venomous snakes, excluding boas. Its length sometimes exceeds 3.5 m. The upper side of the body of the big-eyed snake is yellowish-brown or olive-brown, and sometimes black, usually with narrow black stripes in the back of the body and on the tail. The belly is greyish, pearly or yellowish.

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The big-eyed snake is widespread in almost all of South and Southeast Asia from Taiwan and the Malay Archipelago to Afghanistan and South Turkmenistan. On the territory of our country, it is known only in the Murgab River basin, where it adheres to a strip of oases, lake shores, irrigation canals, marshy river floodplains and other wet places, but is never found far from water bodies. Left without water, at a room temperature of about 30 °, snakes invariably die after 3-5 days, but if they are given water, they live for months. In nature, big-eyed snakes escape from the heat in the crowns of shady trees or in water and, unlike true desert species, often drink. In the wetter climate of South and Southeast Asia, bigeye snakes are very widespread and are found almost everywhere.

They climb well and swim well, raising their heads above the water. They feed mainly on amphibians, but do not neglect other prey that they can overpower: small mammals, birds, lizards and small snakes. Small animals are swallowed alive, and a nearby observer can sometimes hear the sounds coming from the snake's stomach, made by freshly swallowed frogs. There have been cases of these snakes attacking poultry.

Despite its large size, the big-eyed snake is not aggressive and always tries to hide from a person by flight. Deprived of the possibility of retreat, the animal fiercely defends itself: it curls up into a ball and quickly jumps into the face of the pursuer, trying to inflict a strong blow with its head and bite with its teeth. An angry snake flattens its neck and front of the body and makes very characteristic sounds, reminiscent of the hum of a tuning fork or the muffled cry of a cat.

In India, due to their impressive size, not always peaceful disposition and the ability to inflate their neck in irritation, big-eyed snakes are often considered "husbands of cobras." Wandering snake charmers take advantage of this, sometimes using these harmless snakes for their tricks instead of their poisonous relatives.

In South America, where there are no snakes of the genus Coluber, they are replaced by the closely related genera Philodrias and Spilotes. These are usually large-sized, brightly colored snakes with a short, slightly delimited head from the neck and strongly keeled body scales.

The most famous of them is chicken eater(Spilotes pullatus), reaching a length of more than 2 m. This animal is unusually spectacularly colored and is considered one of the most beautiful South American snakes: bright yellow oblique transverse stripes run along the black and blue main background. Distributed from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Habitats are very diverse: moist forests, shrubs, swamps, mangroves, etc. Usually found near water bodies, willingly swims and climbs trees well. Feeds on amphibians, small mammals and birds.

Very close to the genus Coluber climbing snakes(Elaphe). It is also a very large, widespread and thriving group of snakes, comprising about 40 species. They differ from snakes, in particular, in the structure of the teeth; their maxillary teeth are approximately the same size, and their row is not interrupted by toothless intervals.

Climbing snakes can be seen as a transitional group from purely terrestrial snakes to true climbing forms. Many species of this genus spend a significant part of their time in trees, where they find food for themselves, ruining bird nests, and in many cases shelters in the form of hollows. They usually kill their prey by squeezing it with body rings. Many species willingly feed on bird eggs and have special adaptations for eating them. When swallowed in the mouth, the egg shell is not damaged, and its breaking occurs with the help of the lower processes of the vertebrae (hypapophyses), which protrude into the upper wall of the esophagus, which is more or less fused with the tissues covering the spinal column. Several hypapophyses of the anterior vertebrae are directed back and down, while the next ones are directed forward and down, so that when the corresponding muscles of the body contract, the egg is clamped between them and the hypapophyses press from above on the opposite ends of the egg, breaking the shell. The remains of the crushed shell pass through intestinal tract and then taken out.

Most snakes of this genus reproduce by laying eggs. Distributed in South and Central Europe, temperate and tropical Asia, North and Central America. Unlike snakes of the genus Coluber, they avoid true deserts and semi-deserts; their greatest diversity is observed in the countries of Southeast Asia. In the USSR, 10 species are found.

The most famous among European climbing snakes is Aesculapian snake(Elaphe longissima). She received this name by the name of the ancient god of healing Aesculapius, depicted by ancient peoples in the form of an old man holding a rod with a snake wrapped around him. The daughter of Aesculapius Hygeia (by the way, the word “hygiene” comes from here) was also depicted with a snake drinking from a bowl. Later, the image of this snake migrated to the well-known emblem of physicians. Many researchers believe that the modern distribution of the Aesculapius snake in Europe in some cases can be associated with the history of the Roman conquests and colonization of Europe. So, in Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, these snakes are found in “spots”, far to the north of the main area of ​​\u200b\u200bdistribution of the species, and it is possible that they were brought here by the Romans, who highly revered them and kept them in baths and baths.

The coloration of the upper side of the body of the Aesculapius snake varies from yellowish gray to dark olive and brown. There are no stripes or spots on the back of adult animals, only some of the scales have white edges, which together create a usually fine mesh pattern. The head is also colored uniformly, only a narrow black stripe stretches along its sides from the eye to the corners of the mouth. Belly with dark small spots. In young specimens, four rows of dark spots run along the body, and on the neck and nape there is a transverse stripe curved in the form of a Roman numeral V. The body length of these snakes in rare cases reaches two meters, but usually they are much shorter.

Despite the dull monochromatic color, the Aesculapius snake is very beautiful due to its smooth, as if polished body, grace and smoothness of movements, some special elegance peculiar only to it. Therefore, lovers are especially willing to keep it in captivity, and in Germany and Austria special “snake parks” are organized, where these snakes are carefully guarded.

Distributed in Southern and partially Central Europe, Asia Minor, Northern Iran. Within the USSR, it is found in Moldova, Southwestern Ukraine, in the Crimea, Krasnodar Territory and Western Transcaucasia. It lives on rocky slopes overgrown with shrubs, in rocks, among ruins, in light deciduous forests. It moves relatively slowly on a horizontal surface, but it climbs superbly. The ventral shields on the sides are, as it were, broken and form well-defined ribs on each side, with which the snake relies when climbing on uneven surfaces. On thick tree trunks or stone walls it can rise almost vertically, leaning on ledges and surface roughness, on thin and smooth trunks without knots, it moves like a screw, wrapping itself around them. In a dense forest, these snakes easily move along the branches from tree to tree.

It feeds on mouse-like rodents, watching for them near holes, as well as small birds. The caught prey she immediately wraps around with tight rings of her flexible body and strangles.

Before mating, these snakes have peculiar mating games. The male pursues the escaping female for a long time and, having caught up, wraps around her body, after which both snakes can still move quite quickly together. Then they simultaneously raise the front parts of the body vertically and, spreading their heads to the sides, freeze in place, forming a figure resembling a lyre.

Females lay eggs in the amount of 5-8 pieces in loose earth, rotting leaves, wood dust.

Four-stripe snake(Elaphe quatuorlineata) reaches a length of 1.8 m. The color of the upper side of the body varies from grayish-olive to brownish, a row of dark spots slightly elongated in the transverse direction stretches along the back; one row of smaller dark spots is also present on the sides of the body. The top of the head is usually brown-brown, with a tapering brown-brown stripe running from the eyes to the corners of the mouth. The belly is light yellow, sometimes with small dark spots. Four-striped snakes living in Southwestern Europe have four dark longitudinal stripes along their entire body, for which this species got its name.

It is distributed almost throughout Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Northern Iran, and within the USSR in Moldova, Southern Ukraine, Crimea, Transcaucasia, the steppe zone of Southern Russia and Western Kazakhstan to the Aral Sea. It occurs in steppes, semi-deserts, stony placers and along the edges of insular forests, it rises up to 2500 m into the mountains. Rodent burrows, deep cracks in the soil, heaps of stones serve as shelters.

This large and strong snake feeds on small mammals up to the size of rats, gerbils and ground squirrels, birds, their chicks and eggs. Like other snakes, it kills its prey by squeezing it with tight rings of a muscular body. Eggs up to the size of a chicken or duck are swallowed whole; while breaking the shell occurs in the esophagus with the help of elongated spinous processes of the anterior vertebrae, pressing on the swallowed egg from above.

According to the observations of T. A. Ardamatskaya, it can cause great damage to birds nesting in birdhouses and nest boxes. In one of the forest plantations of Ukraine, snakes destroyed 34 nests in two weeks, over which special observations were made. Low-hanging (up to 1.5 m) and unprotected nests they robbed first of all, but there were cases of ruining nests at a height of 5-7 m above the ground. Having climbed into the birdhouse, the snake usually ate all the chicks there or all the eggs, the number of which sometimes reached 8-9. As a rule, the snake that dealt with eggs or chicks remained in the birdhouse to digest food and, curled up in a tight ball at the bottom, did not even react to the appearance of a person. Repeatedly it was possible to catch the snakes in the midst of a meal and literally take the chicks from them by force.

In search of inhabited nests, these snakes systematically examine birdhouses or nest boxes hung out in the forest. Having climbed onto the roof of the birdhouse, the snake first lowers its head down to the notch, and, not finding prey, crawls onto the next tree. Birds, the owners of the nest into which the snake has crawled, react violently to the presence of the robber and always abandon the nests, even if there are live chicks.

Crawling up a tree, writes T. A. A rdamatskaya, the snake seems to float along the trunk or branches - its movements are so smooth. His body has great strength, holding on with his tail, he throws his head onto a branch 50-60 cm away from him, keeping his body elongated in a horizontal position. Crawling to the birdhouse and noticing a person, the snake instantly falls to the ground and seeks to hide in the grass, and with further pursuit quickly crawls onto another tree. Much less often, he resorts to a different method of protection: he moves to the very edge of the branch and hides here, stretching out on thin knots. From the ground, it may well be mistaken for a dry twig.

In order to protect birdhouses from ruin, they began to be strengthened on a metal wire stretched between two trees. Soon, however, snakes learned to get to these nests. The snakes crawled along the wire, moving in a helical fashion, clinging to the wire with their tail and holding their heads above it.

Four-lane snakes are sheltered by rodent burrows, deep cracks in the soil, and heaps of stones. Mating of these snakes takes place in June. In July - August, females lay from 6 to 16 eggs, young ones appear in September. Hatching cubs first stick the tip of the muzzle and tongue into the hole made in the shell, then stick out their entire head and often remain in this position for more than an hour; if someone moves nearby, the animal draws its head back in and only after a considerable break does it look out again. There are observations that the females of this snake show care for their offspring, which is so rare in snakes. They encircle the masonry with the rings of their body and protect it from enemies.

patterned snake(Elaphe dione) is the most widespread species of this genus in our country. It is found all over from Ukraine to the Far East, populating South Siberia, Central and Central Asia(where it avoids sandy deserts), the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and South Russia, reaching north to the Zhiguli. This medium-sized snake (up to 1 m long) is easily recognizable by a very characteristic dark pattern on the upper surface of the head. The coloration of the back is "marble", grayish or grayish-brown, usually with four longitudinal brown stripes along the body; narrow, irregularly shaped transverse spots of dark brown or black color stretch along the ridge. The belly is usually covered with small dark spots.

It occurs in forests (especially in the Far East), steppes and deserts, rises high into the mountains and often comes across in settlements. Willingly enters the water, even the sea, perfectly dives and swims and can often be met on the shores of our southern reservoirs in the company of water or ordinary snakes. The main food of this snake is rodents, less often it eats chicks and bird eggs. The snake strangles the caught prey, squeezing it with the rings of its body, and swallows it only dead, having previously moistened it with saliva.

In an excited state, the patterned snake makes quick movements with the tip of the tail, which hits the soil and surrounding objects, producing a kind of intermittent sound, reminiscent of the sound of a rattle.

One of the most elegantly painted of our snakes is rightly considered leopard snake(Elaphe situla, or E. leopardina). Its body is greyish, light brown or fawn above. A fawn-gray or yellowish stripe stretches along the ridge, on the sides of which there are narrower stripes outlined by a black line, while in other cases along the back there is a row of dark brown, red-brown or chestnut spots elongated in the transverse direction, surrounded by a black border. There is also a peculiar pattern of dark stripes on the head. The belly is light with black spots or almost entirely brown or black. The body length reaches 1 m.

Distributed in the Mediterranean countries (Southern Italy, the islands of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey), and within the USSR in the Crimea and possibly in the Caucasus.

It lives in rocky foothills, usually overgrown with shrubs or sparse trees, but does not avoid steppe areas. It feeds on small rodents, shrews, less often on chicks and eggs of birds. At the end of June - in July, females lay 2-4 eggs.

It tolerates captivity well; a case is known when a leopard snake lived in a terrarium for 23 years.

Transcaucasian snake(Elaphe hohenackeri) is distributed only in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, and outside the USSR in Eastern Turkey and, possibly, Northwestern Iran. Body length does not exceed 75 cm. Brownish-gray or light brown above, two rows of dark spots stretch along the back, merging in places into short transverse stripes. The head is dotted with small black dots on top, on the back of the head there are two characteristic dark spots connected in the form of a pitchfork by narrowed edges stretched forward. The belly is brownish-gray with numerous dark spots, in living snakes with a characteristic mother-of-pearl sheen.

In comparison with other representatives of their kind, Transcaucasian snakes are rather slow snakes with pronounced climbing abilities. They keep in thickets of bushes on the rocky slopes of mountains, among stones in the mountain steppe, in sparse forests, in gardens and vineyards. They hide under stones, in rodent burrows, as well as among branches and in hollows of trees, often rising high above the ground. They feed on mouse-like rodents, after which they often crawl into their holes.

Amur snake, or Schrenk snake(Elaphe schrenki), is a large snake, reaching a length of 2 m and the thickness of an adult's wrist. Above brown, often completely black with yellow oblique transverse stripes, each of which is divided into two branches on the sides of the body. The head is uniformly dark. Only the upper labials are colored yellow. The belly is solid yellow or covered with dark spots. Young snakes are colored differently: they have large brown or brown spots elongated across their backs with darker, almost black edges. In the back of the muzzle there is a brown arcuate strip, bounded in front and behind by light stripes; another dark stripe runs along the sides of the head from the eyes to the corner of the mouth.

Distributed in Northern China, Korea and in our south of the Far East. It is found in forests, bushes, meadows, and often in villages, where it keeps under piles of firewood, in heaps of dry manure, under straw, in gardens, etc. Hollow trees, old stumps, heaps of stones and rodent burrows serve as shelters for these snakes. . Repeatedly they were observed on trees at a height of more than 10 m above the ground. In search of sparrow nests, they easily climb onto the roofs of houses.

They feed on small mammals up to the size of a rat, medium-sized birds, their chicks and eggs up to the size of a chicken. Like many other climbing snakes, there is a special mechanism for breaking the shell in the esophagus. The swallowed egg is clamped between the lower processes of the vertebrae directed in opposite directions, protruding into the walls of the esophagus, and crushed by contraction of the trunk muscles; at the same time, the crackling of the breaking shell is clearly audible.

Females lay their eggs from mid-July to mid-August in damp moss, fallen leaves, and dung heaps. The eggs are large and approach the size of chicken eggs; their number in a clutch varies from 13 to 30. Young hatch in late August - September, they reach a length of 30 cm and are colored, unlike adults, in a grayish-brown color with a variegated pattern. According to A. A. Emelyanov, the eggs of the Amur snake are edible and, "cooked fresh, resemble fresh non-acidic cottage cheese."

In captivity, they quickly get used to humans and live well in a terrarium, eating live mice and chicken eggs. In China, these snakes are sometimes kept as pets because they exterminate mice and rats.

redback snake(Elaphe rufodor-sata) brown or olive brown above. In the anterior part of the body there are four longitudinal rows of dark rings and spots, which pass into narrow stripes in the posterior part of the body. On the upper surface of the head there are dark stripes in the form of an inverted Roman numeral V, while a dark arcuate stripe runs on the muzzle between the eyes. Belly yellowish with black quadrangular spots, staggered in places. Body length up to 77 cm.

Distributed in Eastern and Northern China, Korea and the Soviet Far East north to Khabarovsk. Unlike the species discussed above, it leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle and is found exclusively near rivers, lakes, ponds and swamps. Swims and dives great. Food, like our snakes, are frogs, toads and small fish caught in the water. Oviparous: in the eggs laid, the number of which reaches 20 pieces, there are already fully formed cubs, hatching a few minutes after the egg is laid.

thin-tailed snake(Elaphe taeniura) is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia from Assam to Taiwan; one copy of this species was also obtained on the territory of the USSR, in the Primorsky Territory, on the coast of the Posyet Bay. This is a large snake reaching more than 2 m in length. Light olive above; along the back are two black longitudinal stripes connected at regular intervals by black transverse lines. The head is single-colored from above, a black stripe stretches along the sides of the head from the posterior edge of the eyes back to the corner of the mouth.

This widespread species can be found both on the low plains and high in the mountains, at an altitude of over 3000 m above sea level.

In China, fine-tailed snakes are very numerous in settlements, including in such big cities like Shanghai and Nanjing. They live here in houses and feed exclusively on rats, for which they enjoy the protection and love of humans. Strong, but calm and unhurried in its movements, the snake soon becomes completely tame and is considered almost a domestic animal here.

Of the climbing snakes common on the territory of the USSR, one can also name low-scaled snake(Elaphe quadrivirgata), Japanese snake(E. japonica) and island snake(E. climacophora).

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Single finds of these species were made on the island of Kunashir from the group of the South Kuril Islands, while the main area of ​​their distribution is Japan. Interestingly, a small population of the island snake near the city of Iwakuni in Japan consists exclusively of snow-white albino snakes. There are about 2000 of these animals here, which are considered a local landmark and are carefully guarded by residents.

Unlike climbing snakes of the genus Elaphe, American forest snakes(Chironius) lead an almost real arboreal lifestyle. The body of these snakes is long and relatively thin, slightly laterally compressed, the tail is about a third of the total body length. The eyes are large, with a round pupil, the color of the body is dominated by green and olive tones * They are common in South and Central America.

Reaching more than 2 m in length zipo, or kutim-boya(Chironius carinatus), locally one of the most common snakes in Brazil, Guiana and Venezuela. Its body is painted in dense dark green from above, the underside is yellow or yellow-green.

It is found in dense shrubbery near water bodies and among marshes. Equally swiftly and dexterously moves along the ground and branches, swims well and willingly goes into the water. The food of this snake is amphibians, birds, small mammals, rarely fish.

When irritated, the zipo can make long leaps towards the enemy and bite violently.

Some have most fully adapted to the arboreal way of life. tropical groups already. The ability to climb trees and shrubs is inherent in many snakes to varying degrees, but real tree snakes have moved to life almost exclusively in the crowns of trees and shrubs.

All specialized tree snakes are characterized by an increase in body length and a decrease in its thickness. This is explained by purely mechanical reasons: the more points of support and the lighter the body of the animal, the better it is kept on vertical surfaces and the greater the distance can be thrown between remote branches when moving along the branches.

Since the relatively wide and smooth belly of a land snake does not cling well to the unevenness of the bark, in tree forms the body is laterally compressed, and on the sides of its entire lower side there are longitudinal keels to varying degrees, formed by bends of individual abdominal scutes on the sides of the body. The rigid hard surface formed by them along the edges of the belly allows the snake to cling to the most insignificant irregularities of the bark when climbing, holding the body even when moving vertically up the trunk. The beautiful green or olive coloration of tree snakes is also adaptive, camouflaging the animal among the foliage. Many species imitate tree branches or lianas with their coloration, as well as their thin bodies, and bright spots and stripes hide them among the colorful tropical vegetation penetrated by the sun.

A particularly peculiar method of disguise is found in Madagascar tree snakes(Langaha). These small-sized snakes have a long outgrowth cut out along the edges at the end of the muzzle, imitating the feathery edge of the leaf in color and shape.

Compared to terrestrial forms, which have a rather narrow field of vision, the eyes of many arboreal forms are noticeably enlarged and vision is more perfect. In the most specialized tree snakes, the pupil is horizontally elongated and has the shape of an ellipse or slit, which contributes to the formation of a binocular field of view.

Finally, many tree snakes tend to be ovoviviparous, which frees them from having to come down to the ground to lay their eggs. In oviparous species, the shape of the eggs, due to the thinness of the body, is always very elongated in length.

A highly specialized group of tree snakes can be considered bronze snakes(Ahaetulla), which are widespread throughout almost all of mainland and insular South and Southeast Asia from northwestern India to the Solomon Islands and northern Australia in the south and southeast. These are medium-sized, not exceeding 1.5 m long snakes, unusually bright and beautifully colored.

bronze snake(Ahaetulla ahaetulla) has a brownish-bronze color above with a yellow-white stripe on each side of the body, narrow black-and-white thin transverse stripes running along the border of the ventral and dorsal scales, and a yellow or fawn belly. Elegant bronze snake(A. formosa) olive-bronze above with blue or green spots and black longitudinal stripes on the sides of the body. The head is yellow-brown, the neck is red, the underside of the body is yellowish green in front, dark green or brownish in the back, the same color on the underside of the tail.

The eyes are large, with a horizontally elongated elliptical pupil. The slender body is relatively long and thin, slightly laterally compressed; the long and prehensile tail is up to V3 of the total length of the animal. The scales on the body are narrow and elongated, tightly overlapping each other, and only one row of wider scales runs along the spine along the midline of the back. Each ventral and caudal shield, covering the underside of the body, bears sharp ribs on the sides, ending in the back with a small notch - a notch. In general, these ribs create on the sides of the body along a longitudinal serrated keel, on which the snakes rely when moving through the trees. The belly between the keels is slightly concave and looks like a shallow trench from the outside.

All 15 species of bronze snakes are exclusively diurnal animals feeding on lizards and tree frogs. Among the branches of their movement, they are extremely dexterous and swift, but these snakes are very agile on the ground. Ovoviviparous.

Very close to bronze snakes South Asian genus of tree snakes(Dendrelaphis). They differ from bronze snakes in the absence of an extended row of scales along the spine and in the details of the structure of the teeth. There are observations that these snakes are capable of making long gliding jumps. They reproduce by laying eggs, which have a cylindrical, very elongated shape. The most famous species is Dendrelaphis pictus, found in India, Ceylon, Assam and Indonesia.

In tropical America, very similar thin snakes(Leptophis), numbering 6-8 species. The upper side of the body of these animals is of a magnificent bronze-green brilliant color, sometimes with black stripes on the sides, and the belly is mother-of-pearl-yellow-wool or bright yellow.

green snakes(Chlorophis) replace their Asian and American relatives in Equatorial and South Africa and are very close to the latter in appearance. There are 11 known species of these animals.

Genus of copperheads(Coronella) unites only 2 species distributed in North Africa, Europe and Western Asia. These are small-sized terrestrial snakes with a more or less flattened head, relatively slightly delimited from the neck. Their body is dense, rolled, covered with completely smooth, ribless scales. The tail is short; the pupil is round.

Common copperhead(Coronella austriaca) is the only representative of the genus widely distributed in the USSR. It inhabits almost all of Europe, Western Kazakhstan, the northern part of Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Northern Iran. The length of the body is up to 65 cm. The color of the back varies from gray, gray-brown and yellowish-brown to red-brown and copper-red. Reddish tones are especially characteristic of males. Small dark spots stretch along the back in 2-4 longitudinal rows, which in some specimens almost merge with each other and are clearly visible, while in others, on the contrary, they are weakly expressed. There are two brown or black-brown stripes (or two spots) on the neck, usually merging at the back of the head. The head is dark from above or with a characteristic pattern of an arcuate strip cut in front in front of the eyes and a broken line passing through the supraorbital and frontal scutes. A narrow brown stripe runs from the nostril through the eye and further to the ear. The underside of the body is gray, bluish-steel, brownish, orange-brown, pink or almost red, usually with dark blurred spots or speckles.

It is found most often in dry hilly areas among bushes and forest edges, but can also be found in dense forest, meadows and even in the steppe. It rises to the mountains up to a height of 3000 m, choosing dry sunny slopes. Shelters are abandoned rodent burrows, cracks under stones, voids in rotten stumps. Avoids damp places and is very reluctant to go into the water.

The food of copperheads consists mainly of lizards, although occasionally they can eat small mammals, bird chicks, small snakes and insects. The copperfish strangles adult lizards, wrapping them with the rings of its body so that only the head and tail of the victim protrude from the ball. Having strangled the prey, the snake gradually unfolds the rings of its body and begins to swallow it, usually from the side of the head. With large and strong lizards, the copperfish manages to cope far from always and not immediately. More often, however, the snake wins, which is helped a lot in this by the poisonous saliva for lizards that enters the blood of the prey. Small copperfish lizards, especially young individuals, are eaten alive, unmistakably grabbing them by the head.

It is generally accepted that these snakes mate in the spring, shortly after waking up from hibernation. However, according to recent observations made in France, mating can also take place in autumn, and the spermatozoa are stored in a special seminal receptacle until spring, when the eggs are fertilized.

Copperhead refers to ovoviviparous snakes: her eggs are so late in the mother's oviducts that the young hatch at the time of laying eggs. The number of cubs brought by one female varies from 2 to 15. They appear in late August or early September. The length of newborns is 13-15 cm.

A characteristic feature of the copperhead is its ability to collect the body into a tight tight lump, inside which it hides its head. Often, instead of fleeing, the copperhead assumes the described posture and reacts to every touch only by a large contraction of its body. When disturbed, from time to time, with a short hiss, it throws the front third of the body towards the danger. A caught snake often bites violently, and especially large specimens are able to bite through the skin to the point of blood.

In many places, these harmless snakes are considered very poisonous, unfairly persecuted and destroyed.

The closest relatives of copperheads on the American continent are king snakes(Lampropeltis). They are medium-sized, smooth-scaled and often brightly colored reptiles. Unlike copperheads, among them there are not only ovoviviparous, but also oviparous forms. These strong and aggressive snakes feed largely on other snakes, including venomous snakes, lizards, small mammals, and less commonly amphibians. They strangle their prey by wrapping their body rings around it.

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Ordinary, or chain royal, snake(Lampropeltis getulus) is distributed in the southern and middle parts of the North American continent from Virginia to California in the USA. Its coloration is very variable: on the Atlantic coast, snakes with a chain-like yellow pattern on a black background predominate; in the Mississippi River valley, whitish or yellowish spots on the back of the snake are scattered over a greenish background; stripes or transverse yellow rings. The length of these snakes reaches 2 m. They keep mainly in dense bushes and forests.

small milk snake(L. doliata) got its name from a widespread fable that ascribes to this reptile a love of milk, which it allegedly milks from cows in pastures. The adult animal is colored gray with brown spots, while the juvenile is shiny, bright, its color consists of a combination of black, red or yellow colors that form regular transverse rings.

The so-called burrowing snakes there is a tendency to shorten the overall length of the body. The body acquires a rolled cylindrical shape, the tail becomes short and thick, and the head is weakly or not at all delimited from it, so that the body of animals has almost the same thickness throughout its length. The head undergoes the greatest changes - the only organ that snakes can use for digging. In the simplest case, the head is used as a drill, loosening the soil with rotational movements and screwing into it. In this regard, those shields at the end of the muzzle, which take on the main load during digging, sharply increase and change shape. The intermaxillary shield is especially often enlarged and wrapped on the upper surface of the head, the muzzle itself often acquires a pointed shape, and the mouth moves to its lower side. The eyes are sharply reduced in size, the nostrils to prevent the ingress of soil particles acquire a slit-like shape and are equipped with valves. In other snakes, a fusion or loss of part of the head shields is observed due to the growth and fusion of the remaining ones, and the strength of the head is ensured by the compactness of the skull and the rigidity of the connection of its bones.

The most specialized forms switch to feeding on invertebrates, primarily earthworms.

Small a genus of sharp-faced snakes, or litorhynchus(Lytorhynchus), has 5 or 6 species distributed in desert areas North Africa and Southwest Asia. These are small snakes, not exceeding half a meter in length, adapted to a semi-burrowing, secretive lifestyle. Their narrow head is almost not delimited from the valky, cylindrical body, covered with 19 rows of smooth or slightly keeled scales. The tail is short and thick. The end of the muzzle is pointed and protrudes strongly forward above the lower jaw, so that the mouth is located on the underside of the head. The nostrils have the appearance of oblique slits equipped with a valve, eyes with a vertically elliptical pupil.

The moor snakes live in places where sufficiently loose soil allows them to make holes, burrowing into the ground with their heads, or dig in, scooping up sand on themselves. They lead a strictly nocturnal lifestyle and only in the spring, after hibernation, they come out during the day to bask in the sun. They feed on small lizards, which are attacked at night in their shelters, reptile eggs and insects. Often they hide in termite mounds, where they often spend the winter. Lithorhynchus females lay only 2-4 eggs.

Crowned Lithorhynchus(Lytorhynchus diadema) inhabits the deserts and semi-deserts of North Africa. Sandy-yellow above with reddish-brown or yellowish tones of transverse spots along the body and a characteristic pattern on the head.

Afghan Litorhynchus(L. ridgewayi) distributed in Northwest India, Iran, Afghanistan and South Turkmenistan. The coloration of the upper side of the body is light brownish or brownish. A row of brown or dark brown spots runs along the back, often outlined along the edges with a dark and light border. On the sides of the body are the same, but smaller spots: the belly is light, without a pattern. Litho-rhynchos live in deserts and semi-deserts, using termite mounds and cracks in the soil as shelter. They feed on small lizards and insects.

Close to real snakes is North American a genus of horny, or silt, snakes(Farancia).

The only species of the genus horny, or silt, snake(Farancia abacura) reaches a length of 1.5 m. It is quite brightly colored in a brilliant reddish-gray, gray-violet or steel color. It lives in swamps, along the muddy banks of water bodies and wet lowlands of the southeastern part of the United States. Active only at night, especially during rains; spends daytime in burrows, which he digs in moist, easily yielding soil. It feeds on worms, small salamanders, frogs and fish.

Horn snakes are interesting in that they have a developed instinct for caring for offspring, which is very rare in snakes. Before laying eggs, the female digs a bottle-shaped nest in moist sandy soil and is connected to the ground by a vertical passage - a neck. Having laid eggs here in an amount from one to several dozen, the snake wraps itself around the masonry and does not leave the nest until the young hatch.

North American pig-nosed snakes(genus Heterodon) have three closely related species. These are medium-sized reptiles with a short and thick body and a wide, well-delimited head from the neck. The end of their muzzle is characteristically pointed and upturned; a well-defined keel runs along the upper surface of the muzzle from the tip of the nose. This feature gives the snakes an unusual and funny look, to which they owe their name.

Widely distributed in the United States from the southern states to the borders with Canada. They feed on frogs and toads, as well as small mammals, birds, lizards, small snakes and invertebrates.

Pig-nosed snakes show a very peculiar reaction when approaching larger, dangerous animals or humans. At first, they behave very aggressively and try to scare: they flatten the front half of the body by half, greatly expand the neck and head, hiss loudly and make ferocious attacks with their open mouth towards the enemy. If the intimidation did not work, all the aggressiveness of the snake disappears and the second part of the performance is played out: the animal begins to writhe with its mouth open and its tongue hanging out, and when the convulsions end, it remains motionless to lie on the ground with its belly up. A complete illusion of death is created: the snake does not respond to touch, its body is relaxed and passively assumes the position that is given to it. If, however, you step aside, the snake raises its head, looks around and, having established that the danger has passed, turns over on its stomach and crawls away. In tropical Africa, pig-nosed snakes are replaced by snakes resembling them appearance swamp snakes of the genus Prosymna.

Small genus of brown snakes(Storeria) is distributed only in Central America and Western North America. These are small dull-colored animals, not exceeding 40 cm in length. Their body is cylindrical in shape with a relatively short tail and a head slightly delimited from the body. Only two or three species are known, of which the most common Decei's snake(Storeria dekayi). The coloration of the upper side of its body is brownish or brownish-gray, a wide light stripe stretches along the ridge. The belly is pale pink.

Decei's snake is moisture-loving; usually found near bodies of water, in damp places and clearly avoids dry open spaces. Active at night; during the day it keeps under flat stones, under fallen leaves, railway sleepers and other objects lying on the ground. In large numbers, these snakes are found in villages and even large cities. They feed on earthworms, insects, centipedes, mollusks, slugs, and small amphibians.

To genus Oligodon(Oligodon) include about 70 species of relatively small snakes, the body length of which does not exceed 60 cm. They are characterized by a cylindrical body, a short tail and a slightly flattened head slightly delimited from the neck. The end of the muzzle is blunted; a very large intermaxillary shield wraps far onto the upper surface of the head. The pupil is round, the scales are smooth or with weakly expressed ribs.

The structure of the teeth is peculiar. In the upper jaw there are only 6-16 teeth increasing towards the depth of the mouth, and the back of them are strongly compressed from the sides and resemble miniature dagger blades in shape. In the lower jaw 5-20 teeth, first slightly increasing and then decreasing in size; more or less one size teeth sit on the bones of the palate.

Distributed in South and Southeast Asia, one species reaches the southern borders of the USSR. They feed on reptile eggs, amphibian eggs and insects. All species appear to be oviparous.

Variable oligodon(Oligodon taeniolatus) is found in Ceylon and India, as far north as Baluchistan, and in southern Turkmenistan, where only a few specimens of this species have been found in Kopet Dagh. The coloring and pattern on the body of the animal vary greatly, for which this snake got its name. In individuals caught in Turkmenistan, the upper body is from flesh to light brown in color. Along the body there is usually a row of dark transverse stripes or spots, which are often supplemented by four longitudinal stripes, lighter than the transverse ones. On the upper surface of the head and neck there are three dark transverse stripes, the first two of which are in the form of a Latin V and point forward. The belly is light, usually without spots.

The lifestyle is little known. In India, it lives in treeless mountains and foothills, climbing mountains up to 2000 m. It is often found in the immediate vicinity of human dwellings, crawling into gardens, kitchen gardens and houses. It feeds on eggs of lizards, snakes and frog caviar; in search of the latter, he often visits swamps. It also catches newly hatched lizards. Active only during daylight hours.

The oligodons are closely adjacent to a small genus Rhinocalamus(Khynchocalamus), with only 3 known species. All of them lead a secretive and sedentary lifestyle, spending most of their time in shelters under rocks or in the ground. Distributed in Southwest Asia.

Rinocalamus Satunina(Khynchocalamus satunini) is a small burrowing snake that until recently was erroneously classified as an oligodon. In total, 10 cases of this discovery are known in the world. rare species, of which 5 in the territory of the USSR. The length of this snake reaches 36 cm. The body is cylindrical, the head is slightly separated from the neck, the end of the muzzle is flattened. From above, the color is bright orange, the underside is white or pinkish, which is due to blood vessels translucent through the integument. The head is light from above, with a black arched stripe in front of the eyes and a black spot on the vertex.

Found in Western Turkey, Iraq, Western Iran, Southern Armenia and the Nakhichevan ASSR. The lifestyle is almost unknown. It lives in the semi-desert on dry and rocky slopes, it rises to the mountains to a height of up to 1200 m.

To eirenis family(Eirenis) include 10 species distributed in Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa. Until recently, the eirenis of the eastern hemisphere were united into a single genus contia(Contia) with related American species. Now this name is left only for the latter. Eirenis are small, up to 60 cm long, snakes with a bluntly rounded head, slightly delimited from the body. The scales are smooth and located around the body in 15-17 rows. The teeth in the upper jaw are small, weak and approximately the same size, with the exception of the most anterior ones, which are smaller than the others.

Eirenis are relatively sedentary, secretive nocturnal and twilight snakes. They feed on small invertebrates.

Collared Eirenis(Eirenis collaris) olive-brown, brownish-gray, brownish-reddish or pinkish-beige above, more intense along the edges of the body scales and light in their middle part. On the neck behind the head there is a brown or black transverse stripe (collar), which occupies 4-6 rows of scales and is especially pronounced in young animals. On the upper surface of the head of young snakes there is a more or less clearly defined dark pattern of spots and stripes, but in adults this pattern becomes less clear or disappears altogether. The underside of the body is grayish, yellowish, cream or reddish in color, without spots. Distributed in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, and on the territory of the USSR in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Dagestan. Occurs as open areas semi-deserts, and on the slopes of medium steepness, overgrown with sparse vegetation. It rises to the mountains up to a height of 1600 m. It usually keeps under stones or clods of earth, often finds shelter in insect holes and cracks in the soil. After hibernation appears in March - April. Until the first half of June, in the daytime, these snakes can be found under stones and in other favorite shelters, after which, until the end of September, they do not come across at all, or in rare cases after rains. They feed on beetles, locusts, fly and ant larvae, spiders, worms, centipedes, and wood lice. The female lays 4 to 8 eggs, the young appear in late September.

Armenian eyrenis(Eirenis punctatolineatus) is gray, olive gray, brownish, and copper red above. Unlike the previous type, there is no dark collar behind the head. In the anterior half of the body there are 8-10 longitudinal rows of small dark spots and specks, merging in its posterior part into straight longitudinal lines, continuing on the tail.

Distributed in southern Armenia and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, outside the USSR in Turkey and Iran. Adheres to gently sloping, strongly rocky slopes and areas of rocky semi-desert with sparse dry vegetation.

The way of life is reminiscent of the previous view. They feed on scoop caterpillars, orthopterans, ground beetles and their larvae, as well as centipedes, spiders, and mollusks. The manner of eating prey is very similar to that of lizards: the snake moves its raised head to the side, and then, opening its mouth wide, quickly grabs the insect and swallows it in the air.

persian eirenis(Eirenis persica) rather sharply differs from other species of the genus in its thin body (its diameter fits in 55 or more times in length) and clearly flattened head. Lives in Southern Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Punjab, Afghanistan.

humble eirenis(E. modestus) is similar in color to the previous species, but there are no dark spots on the body. An arched dark stripe runs along the back of the head, having a conical protrusion in the middle, turned backward with a point and reaching the eyes with a wide base; behind the occipital strip is bordered by a narrow yellowish or reddish rim. It is found in Georgia, Armenia, Dagestan, Turkey and on the islands of the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.

Striped Eirenis(Eirenis media) is characterized by the presence of dark transverse stripes or rows of small spots along the entire body. Found in Iran and South Turkmenistan.

Pygmy snakes, go calamaria(Calamaria), common in Burma, Indochina, South China, the Philippine Islands and especially richly represented in the Greater Sunda Islands. About 70 species are known. These are very small snakes: the largest species of Calamaria occipitalis living in Java reaches a length of only 50 cm, and the length of the small C. smithii from the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra does not exceed 10 cm. pencil the tail is short. Scales covering the body in 13 longitudinal rows, round, smooth, overlapping each other in a tiled manner. The head is short, not delimited from the neck, the number of large head shields is reduced in comparison with most other already-shaped snakes due to their partial fusion with each other. The general "stiffness" of the head, necessary for digging, is also achieved by the compactness of the skull, the bones of which are fixedly connected to each other. The eyes are very small, with a round pupil, the mouth is moved to the lower surface of the head and is also very small.

Sedentary, lethargic and rather gentle snakes, adapted to a secretive lifestyle under fallen trees, stones and other similar shelters on the ground and, partly, underground. Active during daylight hours, feed on earthworms, insects and other invertebrates; large species may occasionally eat small lizards. They reproduce by laying eggs. These completely defenseless animals serve as prey for many predators. Some species of calamaria have a peculiar way of protecting themselves from enemies. Their thick, bluntly pointed tail, not only in shape, but also in color, is completely similar to the head. In case of danger, the tip of the tail rises, imitating the head of a snake preparing for protection, and the animal retreats, having, as it were, a “protected” rear.

Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970 .