Post #15020

Common snake: The most adequate snake that you shouldn’t be afraid of at all and here’s why Ordinary, like the eldest child in the family. Because the little ones are constantly making mistakes, and he gets it for them! People often mistake snakes of non-standard colors for vipers and some other terribly poisonous snakes. They are trying to quickly deal with the defenseless reptile. Don't do that! Snakes are useful without exception, and even more so - they are our faithful helpers and protectors. The common snake is the most typical, widespread and at the same time safe representative of the reptilian fauna not only in Russia, but also in almost all of Europe, East and Central Asia. It is quite easy to distinguish it from all other scaly animals: bright orange spots on the cheeks, black coloring of the carcass - we have known all these signs since childhood. However, completely black melanistic snakes (photo 2), very light albino snakes, and even gray-spotted individuals with no identifying spots at all (photo 1) are often found. They are mistaken for poisonous reptiles! Such an unusual snake can be distinguished by two criteria: the shape of the head and the eye (photo 4). Unlike dangerous vipers and conditionally dangerous vipers, the shape of the supper's head is oval, not triangular. The eyes are kind and calm. And their pupils are round, and not vertical, like in cats. The snakes themselves are loyal to the human neighborhood, which people have taken advantage of for many years. And now they are using it, it’s just ungrateful. Previously, in some cultures snakes were considered almost a sacred animal. They were specially placed in houses and given their own corner - like cats or dogs. The root cause of such care is simple: reptiles cope well with all pests and require a minimum of care in return. Today, such pets live only in a specially equipped terrarium, and even then, only a few understand all the benefits of snakes in the wild. In fact, without these scaly superheroes, all the ecosystems of small ponds and rivers will immediately collapse, and you will be attacked by hordes of mice and toads. Snakes are like the golden mean of the food chain: they eat everything that is smaller and more agile, but they themselves become prey for large birds of prey and some animals. And note: reptiles were able to occupy such an important niche without poison and without any knockout power techniques or superpowers! But what then? It's simple, snakes are very hardy opportunists. It’s not for nothing that almost half of all snakes known to science belong to the colubrid family! These reptiles can endure poor environmental conditions for quite a long time, eat whatever they can and remain quite alert. For example, in one not-so-humane experiment, a snake was not fed anything at all for almost a whole year. So what do you think? After completing the experiments, the snake ate perfectly and calmly digested everything it had eaten! At t