How many years does an ordinary grass snake live: facts about the reptile. When do grass snakes lay eggs? Snake: types, description, behavior Snakes in nature

Already is a fast and agile snake. There are signs by which you can distinguish a grass snake from a viper. Experts and terrarium owners talk about the intelligence of snakes, but advise remembering that not all snakes are harmless.

Common snake, photo by Marek Szczepanek

How to distinguish a grass snake from a viper?

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

They have a round oval or vertical pupil, like a cat's, and often have a brightly colored iris, usually in good harmony with the overall coloring of the body. Snakes, which search for their prey mainly by sight, have greatly enlarged eyes adapted to react to moving objects (Animal Life, Volume 5).

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

Coloring. The coloring of 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 coloring, the desire to imitate poisonous snakes. The snake family is numerous. Therefore, in order not to confuse a snake with a poisonous snake, you need to know the characteristics of exactly those species that are found in a particular area. Let's consider three types of genus Snakes (Natrix) subfamilies Real snakes (Colubrinae).

Common snake “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 have a crescent shape, and are bordered in front and behind with black stripes. There are individuals whose 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 this advice from a famous snake catcher will help someone:

It was quite simple to distinguish a snake from a viper: the snake has sharp yellow or red spots on its head, similar to ears, and its body is monochromatic - dark gray or black. Vipers do not have “ears” on the head, the body is gray or red, and a zigzag stripe stands out sharply on the back (A Nedyalkov. Naturalist in search).

Water snake painted differently. This snake differs from the ordinary snake, although it often coexists with it.

The color of its back is olive, olive-gray, olive-greenish or brownish in color with dark spots located more or less in a checkerboard pattern or with narrow dark transverse stripes. On the back of the head there is often a dark spot shaped like Latin letter V, pointing towards the head. The belly is 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. One day, a viper taught him a lesson that could end in tragedy:

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

I was walking through the forest one day after rain and saw the black body of a large snake stretching across the path. The snake's head was hidden in the grass. The black body means it's not a viper, but... I really needed a big one, so I bent down and, without any precautions, took the snake by the body with my bare hand. The snake hissed. Snakes usually do not hiss when picked up. My catcher’s reflex kicked in, and with my other hand I grabbed the snake by the neck so that it couldn’t reach me with its teeth. I look and her pupil is in the shape of a stick. Viper!

What saved me from being bitten was that the viper was very chilled after the rain, and chilled snakes are rather sluggish and clumsy (A Nedyalkov. Naturalist in search).

Tiger snake , which is found on Far East Russia (as well as in Northern China, Korea, Japan), painted brightly and elegantly:

The back is dark green or dark olive in color (occasionally blue specimens are also found), mottled with more or less clear black transverse stripes or spots, gradually decreasing in size as one approaches the tail. In the anterior third of the body, the spaces between the black spots are painted a bright brick-red color. Under the eye there is an oblique black, wedge-shaped stripe, with its apex facing 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 there is one triangular-shaped spot on each side of the neck. Upper lip yellow, large, black eyes (“Animal Life”, volume 5).

Smell. Snakes have one more difference from other snakes. Alarmed snakes smell disgusting:

The snake waved its tail and doused me with a stream of whitish, stinking liquid. The stench was terrible: a mixture of garlic fumes and some kind of chemical substance. I almost vomited, but I still threw the snake onto the shore. For an hour and a half I rubbed my skin with soap, sand, and alcohol, but I couldn’t 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 a grass snake and a viper lie side by side and calmly bask in the sun. And I never saw them fight (A. Nedyalkov “Naturalist in Search”).

Types of snakes

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

(Natrix natrix ) is found in Europe (except for the Far North). It is a black or dark gray snake measuring up to 1.5 m (usually 1 m, females are noticeably 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 wet forests and in the swamps. The common snake sometimes settles near people’s homes: in heaps of garbage in the yard, in sheds, stables, cellars and poultry yards. It often hangs onto 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 inside, surrounded by a thin layer of white. The eggs are covered with a leathery shell. The female lays eggs bound into “beads” by a gelatinous substance. Oviposition can be found in manure heaps, in a heap of dry leaves, damp moss or in loose soil. There can be 15 - 17 eggs (less often up to 30 pieces). About three weeks pass, and the cubs are born. The length of a snake that has just hatched from an egg is about 15 cm. It is capable of eating worms, snails and various insects.

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

Water snake (Natris tesselata) lives in the southern regions of Russia, as it is more thermophilic than the common one. There are many such snakes in the Volga region and on the Don. The water snake is often seen in Crimea (especially on the Kerch Peninsula). These snakes stay near water, not only fresh, but also salty. They swim well (even in big waves) and dive. They feed on frogs, tadpoles, small fish (gobies) and even shrimp. Less commonly, small mammals and birds. To make it easier for the snake to swallow the fish, the snake holds it in its mouth and swims to the shore. There it finds support for its body, sits comfortably near it, and then begins to swallow its prey. These snakes hide from the heat underwater. Snakes sleep in dry grass, in hay, climb into rodent holes, and under stones. In the morning, water snakes slowly crawl onto the banks of rivers and reservoirs. Snakes hibernate under rocks, in crevices and in dense bushes.

Already brindle (Rhabdophis tigrina) in Russia it is found in the south of the Far East (Primorsky Krai, near Khabarovsk) in damp areas near water, in forests and meadows. They are seen even in cities. The length of the snake is about 110 cm. It 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 human bites tiger snake, usually caused by short front teeth, disappear without a trace. However, in cases where the bite is inflicted by enlarged posterior maxillary teeth lying in the depths of 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 severity to that from the bite of real poisonous snakes (“Animal Life, volume 5).

Snake nutrition

Snakes are excellent swimmers and often find 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. A hungry snake swallows several small frogs at once. In the water, it also hunts tadpoles and fish.

Watching him eat is unpleasant. He swallows frogs alive, just as some people swallow live oysters. The discrepancy between the sizes of the frog and the snake makes the process of eating a terrible sight - big mouth snake with a small head, thin body, in which a swallowed frog sticks out with a terrible knot... As a child, I was once caught with such a knot on my neck. I poked it with a stick - a live and unharmed frog jumped out from 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. Externally 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. To see everything better, I pulled away a branch of the bush. The frog noticed the movement of the branch and made a desperate leap, turning over its head in the air. He continued to lie motionless. Looking closely, I saw that from time to time he threw out a forked tongue from his closed lips. I didn’t bother the snake and returned to my place. About five minutes later, near the same bush, the frog purred again. I approached the bush again. He was already lying in the same place, and the frog was purring again and approaching him. She did not jump, but, carefully moving her paws, crawled the way soldiers crawl on their bellies. This time I did not move the branches, and soon the frog approached the snake at a distance of twenty centimeters. Suddenly it rushed towards the frog and grabbed it by the end of its muzzle with its mouth. The frog struggled, but could not escape. Moving his jaws, he grabbed her tighter and tighter. The frog no longer purred, but desperately scraped the snake’s head with its paws. The snake's jaws kept moving and moving. The frog's eyes were already at the very edge of its mouth. I felt sorry for the frog, and I pushed the snake with the end of the grabber. He didn’t immediately let go of his victim. Only after I squeezed his neck quite hard with my grip, did he open his mouth and the frog escaped. She immediately jumped into the grass, and then slid into the thick of the bush... I don’t think he hypnotized 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 “Naturalist in Search”).

Handmade

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

He was so sweet and friendly. A real pet snake that was not afraid of people. He even got rid of his old bad habit of hissing and making bad smell when you touch it. Frightened snakes smell like garlic.

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He’s already ordinary—he’s ordinary because you can hardly surprise anyone by meeting him. But just meeting and leaving is one thing, but coming face to face and having a photo shoot is completely different. So we have a good reason to dwell in more detail on this representative of snakes .

Appearance

Already ordinary (Natrix natrix)- quite a large snake. According to various sources, from 80-90 cm to 1-1.5 m in length. I have never seen meter-long giants, but there are plenty of individuals 50-80 centimeters tall. The color is usually dark, although there are also light-colored specimens, including albinos.

A typical one in the Tambov region looks something like this:

Habitats

Common snakes live mainly in wooded areas, swamps and along river banks, which is why I would like to call them forest snakes. However, too ordinary And too foresty- snakes are completely different. The latter lives mainly in the southern and South-East Asia, in Russia it is found only in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories.

Our hero is widespread everywhere in Europe, with the exception of polar and subpolar regions. Also lives in the southern regions of Siberia to Lake Baikal and in the south of the Far East.

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Snake lifestyle

The common one is a predator. Hunts various small animals, with particular preference for frogs and toads. In rare cases, it can eat fish. They do not disdain small warm-blooded animals, such as mice. Having caught the prey, it swallows it whole.

In case of danger, he applies sequentially four methods of self-defense:

1. Fleeing for his life.
2. Hisses terribly and rushes at the enemy, making it clear with all his appearance that he is a viper.
3. It releases a disgusting smelling substance from under its tail.
4. Well, and if all these measures did not put the enemy to flight, he finally despairs, sticks out his tongue and pretends to be dead.

Protection method No. 2 is well illustrated in the following video:

Loves to bask in the sun. IN hot weather Somewhere on the rocks near the river you can find whole balls of mulched snakes.

It swims really well. You can often see a yellow-spotted head rushing over the water with a zigzag trail behind it. And this not aquatic, but just an ordinary person decided to swim and hunt frogs and other aquatic life. Its aquatic relative has a different coloring, and the characteristic spots on the head are absent.

The mating season begins in April-May. At the beginning of summer, females lay eggs, for which they look for damp, warm places, such as rotten stumps, heaps of humus, leaves, and straw.

It hibernates, huddled in suitable crevices in the ground, cracks, hollows, holes, where it falls into suspended animation.

The lifespan of the common grass snake is up to 20 years.

Relationship between a snake and a person

For a person it’s too ordinary not dangerous, unless its appearance can cause a heart attack in people suffering from T ophiophobia (fear of snakes).

Because of their love for small warm-blooded animals, in some places snakes are specially kept in houses to fight mice - a kind of reptile alternative to cats.

In addition to living on free grazing as a cat, it can also perform decorative functions, upholstered in the terrarium.

It is easily tamed, ceases to be afraid of people, and takes food from hands.

Given its decent life expectancy, it can make almost the same long-lived pet as, for example,.

In addition, he may even catch mice better than cats: After all, he can crawl into their very holes! Therefore, here you go:

The variety of snake snakes is simply amazing! They are found almost everywhere. These are terrestrial and burrowing, arboreal and aquatic, nocturnal and diurnal, poisonous and not very poisonous, as well as oviparous and viviparous species. These are both large (up to 4 meters long) and small (up to 15 centimeters) snakes. I wonder what snakes eat with such a variety of species?

Snake menu

Many of them “specialize” in a particular food. For example, egg snakes(oviveaters) feed on bird eggs, swallowing them whole. When an egg enters the esophagus, the snake begins to bend sharply, which allows the processes of its vertebrae to crush. All the liquid contained in the egg enters the stomach, and the remains of the shell are regurgitated by the snake through the mouth. There is probably no need to explain what snakes, for example, fish-eating species, eat. There are individuals that feast only on frogs or only

What snakes eat does not affect their poisonous abilities in any way. The fact is that in itself it is absolutely safe, and in general snake snakes are considered non-venomous. However, as they say, there are species whose bite can be fatal to humans. But still, the vast majority of snake snakes that produce venom either do not have developed poisonous teeth, or something similar to such a tooth is located in the depths of the mouth, which makes it difficult to introduce their venom into the human body.

Where and how do they live?

Almost 30 species live in our country. Of these, the most common is, of course, This snake is common not only in Russia, but also in almost all of Europe, North Africa and Asia. She chooses wet places: lakes, ponds, grassy swamps, and sometimes mountains and open steppes. Common snakes are active during daylight hours, but at night they hide in shelters. The hunting time of these snakes is morning and evening. They mate at the end of April - May, and already in July the female lays up to 30 eggs. Newly hatched snakes are already 15 centimeters long and immediately begin to live independently.

Above we told you what snakes eat different types. The specific one eats small frogs, lizards, small birds and their chicks, as well as small mammals

Its brother, the water snake, lives only in the south of our country, as it is very thermophilic. His external difference from an ordinary snake - ribbed scales and the absence of yellow spots along the edges of the head. This snake is brown, greenish or gray with spots scattered on the back and sides. The eyes of the water snake, as well as its nostrils, are directed upward. As the name suggests, these snakes live in bodies of water, both fresh and salt water. They are excellent divers. They feed mainly on various small fish.

Man is the snake's main enemy. A lot of these snakes die at the hands of people. This happens because we do not know how to distinguish poisonous snakes (for example, a viper) from harmless ones, which include snakes, as a result of which we act for sure - we kill harmless representatives. Remember that snakes in the house are not dangerous at all. Bright orange spots located on the back of the head, as well as fairly large scutes and a graceful body, noticeably distinguish the snake from a massive viper. There are no such spots on the viper's head, but it is covered with small scales.

The common snake is a snake with a balanced character, a completely non-aggressive reptile animal from the “scaly” order.

Anyone who considers the bite of this reptile dangerous to humans is wrong; it is completely safe and will not harm anyone, but will only modestly hide from the eyes of the annoying and curious layman.

This type of snake suffers greatly at the hands of humans, because outwardly, as some people think, it looks like a snake, but in fact, this is not true.

There are clear signs by which you can accurately understand what kind of this moment there is a snake, but we will talk about this a little later.

Looking ahead a little, we note the fact that she is a very smart actress, and her body, in cases of a potential threat to life, is always ready to repel the enemy with a caustic, odorous whitish liquid secreted by a special gland located at the tips of the tail.

If this does not save the depressing and hopeless situation, then the last crowning number is used; transformation from a living snake to a dead one. Do not be surprised, dear readers, by this behavior; in the world of wild animals there are a huge number of animals that use this method of protection.

Appearance

The female is always larger than the male, her body length can reach from 50 to 150 cm, and the male from 60 to 80 cm. But in history there have been specimens that could be much larger, for example: the maximum size of a snake of this species, recorded by zoologists, was - more than two meters.

A distinctive feature by which a snake can be identified is its yellow ears with markings located on the head, but they can be orange and white.

The eyes are black with round pupils. The scaly, brownish-gray or olive-green skin has distinct black spots.

Difference

First of all, you need to remember that the viper is already twice the length, in addition, there are black spots on its body, which neither have nor.

Habitat

Its range is mainly concentrated on the European continent from the Iberian Peninsula to the northeastern coast of Africa. He also lives in Mongolia, Central Asia and England.

Habitat

This type of reptile prefers to live in areas where there is any body of water, be it a river, lake, bay, pond or just a stream. It can often be found in meadows, bushes and forest clearings.

Lifestyle

As we wrote earlier, a snake from the snake family does not pose any threat to humans. They can accumulate en masse in damp and damp places.

During the day they lead an active lifestyle, bask in the sun, thereby increasing their body temperature, and in the evening they climb the bushes to bask in the last rays of the setting sun. Closer to dusk, they look for a dry, secluded place to spend the night.

In cold countries, it can be in a state of torpor for a long time, approximately 5 to 8 months a year. Curious; that such a rhythm of life does not at all affect the decrease in population in these areas. We wanted to say that even in 4 months they can mate and produce offspring.

Frequent places for wintering they can choose such places as:

• Hollow trees;
• All kinds of pits near platinum;
• Burrows of small rodents;

In such places protected from frost, as a rule, several dozen of these wonderful natural creatures spend the winter.

Enemies

Separately, I would like to say about the enemies of this harmless creature, and he has quite a few of them, here are just a few of them:

• Storks;
• Herons;

This list is far from complete; in fact, there are two or even three times more of them. This, given that indisputable fact, which is absolutely not poisonous. Its only advantage will be its color and the unpleasant-smelling liquid that it secretes when it is caught unawares by its offender.

Nutrition

Our hero's diet is very varied; he can also eat small fish. To be specific, here it is short list its menu:

• and their eggs;
• Chicks;
• Tadpoles;
• Fish (crucian carp, roach, fry, sabrefish, chebak, bream, rudd);
• Salamanders;
• Lizards;
• Small;

Perhaps that's enough, but the list goes on. Note! That the entire listed range is not a daily diet. If luck turns to the snake, then it will taste such a nutritious delicacy, and if not, then it will be content with what God sent :-).

Hunting

It can hunt both on land and on land; in water it moves using the wave-like movements it creates with its body. Able to dive under water and stay there for more than 30 minutes in search of food, it is helped in this by its tongue, which easily recognizes the odor impulse of the intended victim.

The snake instantly attacks its prey; if it is small, it swallows it whole, but in order to eat a larger catch it needs to crawl ashore. Ingestion can take from 20 minutes to several hours, after which it tries to retire to a modest and quiet place where no one will disturb it.

It begins to swallow its victims from the head; if the victim is a frog, then the swallowing process will take a minimum of time, and if it is a small rodent, then it requires an additional portion of saliva to process the victim’s body; in this state, it easily slides into the snake’s mouth and pharynx.

Reproduction

The mating season for snakes begins immediately after hibernation, around the end of April. Males at this moment behave completely differently, nod their heads, and rub their lower jaw against the female’s back.

In June, the female lays all more than 30 eggs at once in a place specially prepared for this. The older the individual, the greater the number of eggs laid. Places for laying can be completely different, it all depends on the climate in which this reptile arrives.

In cold climates these places may be:

• piles of manure;
• hay;
• compost and leaves.

In places with temperate climate females can bury their clutches in the ground. Another place for laying eggs can be a hollow tree; a caring mother carefully prepares and expands the space in it for her additional needs.

We note the fact that this species is characterized by group clutches, this is due to the fact that in harsh habitats the eggs can simply freeze, therefore females combine it into a common clutch so that the temperature is within normal limits.

The incubation period in normal climatic conditions can reach up to 42 days, in cold conditions up to 72 days. The hatched animals can immediately lead an independent lifestyle. Puberty begins at the age of five.

Lifespan

IN wildlife an ordinary one can live more than nine years.

Class — Reptiles

Squad — Scaly

Family — Colubrida snakes

Genus/Species — Natrix natrix.

An ordinary one (see photo)

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: male 60-80 cm, female 50-150 cm. Maximum confirmed length: 200 cm.

REPRODUCTION

Puberty: from 5 years old.

Mating season: from April.

Number of eggs: up to 30; the older the female, the more eggs in the clutch.

Incubation: 42-70 days.

LIFE STYLE

Habits: snakes gather in damp places; active during the day, sleep in a dry place at night; They spend the winter in a state of torpor.

What it eats: frogs, reptiles, fish and mammals.

Lifespan: about 9 years old.

RELATED SPECIES

Its closest relatives - the water snake (Natrix tesselata) and the viper snake (Natrix maura) - are also non-poisonous.

The water snake, unlike the usual one, is mainly found in and near bodies of water.

The common snake is non-venomous, but is often confused with the poisonous common viper and killed for no reason. The common snake is quite easy to distinguish from the viper, because these snakes have completely different patterns on their backs - the snake has light spots on the sides of its head. In addition, it is almost twice as long as a viper.

WHAT DOES IT EAT?

The common grass snake feeds on frogs, newts, salamanders, fish, lizards and small rodents.

It also eats birds, bird eggs and chicks. However, he rarely manages to catch such prey.

The common fish hunts on land, as well as in the water in which it swims, making wave-like movements with its body. Small prey - tadpoles, newts or small fish - is swallowed in the water, and large prey is eaten on land. To search for prey, it uses its sensitive sense of smell. He analyzes odor impulses using the tongue and the so-called Jacobson's organ.

When approaching, it quickly grabs the prey with its teeth. Its jaw bones are attached to the skull by movable ligaments, so they are very elastic. After it pushes the head of the prey into the throat, it swallows the part that remains, gradually moving its jaws along the victim’s body. Digesting large prey always takes a long time, so after eating it tends to retire to a quiet place where no one will disturb it. If he doesn’t move much, he can go without food for a week.

LIFESTYLE

The common grass snake is active during the day and is found in damp areas - in meadows, bush thickets and forest clearings.

At night he usually sleeps in a dry, comfortable place. It often basks in the sun, thus raising its body temperature.

Sometimes in the evening the common snake climbs onto a bush to bask in the last pre-evening rays of the sun.

In cold areas, it spends most of the year (8-8.5 months) in a state of torpor, hiding in a hole, a hollow tree, a hole on the river bank or near a dam. Often in such a frost-protected place it gathers a large number of these snakes. The common grass snake has many natural enemies. So, he is hunted by badgers, hedgehogs, predator birds and herons.

Ordinary - not poisonous snake, therefore only protective coloring protects it from enemies.

It defends itself from an immediate threat in the same way as a poisonous snake: it raises the front part of its body, while its mouth is closed, and then swells and hisses.

If this does not help, he tries to scare away the enemy with secretions of odorous glands located at the base of the tail. If this does not give the desired result, then he pretends to be dead.

REPRODUCTION

At the end of April - beginning of May, immediately after leaving winter shelter, the snakes' mating season begins.

Males bob their heads up and down and rub their chins against the female's back.

In June or July, females lay up to 30 white, round eggs in one batch. In cold areas they lay eggs in warm place, for example, in a pile of compost, manure, hay or leaves.

In other regions, females bury their eggs in soft soil or lay them in a hollow, which they further expand and adapt to their needs. Sometimes several females use one nest at the same time.

Since eggs can die from drying out, snakes lay them in damp shelters, which, however, retain heat well. In a warm place and good weather, the cones hatch after five weeks, otherwise the incubation period can last up to 10 weeks.

The length of the fish is about 16 cm. Immediately after hatching, they can hunt on their own.

SNACK WATCHING

People often confuse a snake with a viper. Both of these snakes are similar in appearance, however, they can be recognized by the clearly visible light spots (usually yellow and orange) that are located on the sides of the head. These spots are shaped like crescents.

In addition, there are already black spots on the body. The common viper has no patterns or light spots, its pupils have the shape of a narrow slit, and a dark zigzag stripe is clearly visible on its back. Common grass snakes are quite common and can be observed from May to September. During the period from October to April, common snakes mostly hide in safe cover. They can most easily be found in wetlands or near bodies of water.

• In Central and Southern Europe The common one is the most common snake.
• The common snake is one of the few snakes whose range on the Scandinavian Peninsula reaches almost to the Arctic Circle.
• One day, in a clearing under an old door, over 1,200 snake eggs were found, arranged in several layers.
• Over large areas of its range, the coloration of the common grass snake is surprisingly variable.

  Often there are even individuals of dark gray or black color.

• People observed this snake swimming in the Bay of Biscay at a distance of 40 km

from the shore. Obviously, salty water does not harm these snakes at all.

HOW AN ORDINARY EATS PREY

The common snake catches prey after a quick attack and swallows it whole.

Its jaw is attached to the skull using movable ligaments. It grabs the prey with its jaws and then pushes it inside. Slippery small animals, such as frogs, are easy to swallow, but to swallow small mammal, he has to secrete a lot of saliva, which envelops the animal’s body and makes it slippery. It sometimes takes a snake several hours to swallow large prey.

Head: Only subspecies N does not have two yellowish spots on the sides of the head.

n.astreptophora. The eyes are black with a round pupil.

Pattern: Black spots are visible on brown or olive green skin.

— Habitat of the common grass snake

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

The common snake is found from the Iberian Peninsula and southern England east through Europe and Central Asia to Mongolia, and in the south to the north-eastern coast of Africa.

An ordinary one (snake).

Video (00:00:41)

Details about the snake (photo, description). The dog was the first to find the snake, but didn’t eat it, and just then I arrived in time with a camera. I was really dissatisfied with such attention, but I posed...

Common and water natrix natrix & natrix tessellata.

Video (00:04:50)

Already ordinary in HD quality. Video (00:01:03)

Externally, common snakes are usually easily distinguished from other snakes by their “yellow ears” - pronounced markings on the head, often yellow, but sometimes white and orange.

In rare cases, markings may be faint or absent. Females are larger in size than males, sometimes reaching up to 1.5 meters, but more often than not more than a meter. It feeds mainly on live frogs, rodents and, less commonly, fish. The enemies of snakes are storks, birds of prey and some mammals.

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COMMON SNACK, DESCRIPTION, IS THE SNACK DANGEROUS, WHAT DOES IT EAT, HABITAT, PHOTO, VIDEO, CONTENT

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It hisses, so loudly. Already ordinary (lat.

Natrix natrix) is the most common species of real snakes in Russia, non-venomous snakes from the colubrid family.

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The common snake (lat. Natrix natrix) is the most common species of real snake in Russia, non-venomous snakes from the colubrid family.

If the coloring of a common grass snake you meet is typical, you will recognize it immediately.

Typicality is determined by the dark brown, dark gray or black color of the upper side of the body without any pattern, but with bright yellow or orange spots, sort of “stop lights”, located on the sides of the head. Usually the spots are oval in shape; very rarely there are snakes in which the spots are very weakly expressed or absent altogether. The ventral side of the body in all common grass snakes, regardless of the color of the upper body, is dirty white or gray with dark spots forming an indefinite pattern.

Females are larger than males, sometimes reaching up to 1.5 meters, but most often the size is no more than a meter.

The snake inhabits North Africa, Europe, with the exception of the northernmost parts, and Asia east to Central Mongolia.

The habitats are very diverse, but certainly quite wet - near reservoirs and calm rivers, swamps, in damp forests, but sometimes even found in the open steppe and mountains. They often live in vegetable gardens, orchards, and barnyards and sometimes crawl into outbuildings. In spring and also in autumn, when the soil retains a lot of moisture, snakes can move far from water.

Snakes swim well, raising their heads above the surface of the water and leaving characteristic ripples behind them, so they can be easily seen while moving through the water. They can also stay under water for several tens of minutes.

Common snakes are very active, agile snakes, they crawl quickly and can climb trees.

Snakes feed mainly on frogs, newts, small fish, lizards, mice and voles, small birds and large insects.

The snakes chase their prey and, having overtaken them, grab them with their mouths in order to immediately begin to swallow them alive, thrusting the prey into the open mouth by alternately retracting the right and left halves of the lower jaw, armed with curved back sharp teeth, which can no longer chew food. If at this moment an enemy attacks him, then he has to regurgitate the prey and save himself.

At the same time, prey that has been inside the snake (for example, a frog) often remains alive.

Snakes have many enemies: they are attacked by snake-eating eagles, kites, less often - storks, and among animals - foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, minks, martens. In addition, a clutch of eggs and young eggs are often eaten by rats.

When defending itself, it gets into a defensive position, hisses, and even tries to bite, but it does this only when it is impossible to escape. When captured, he squirms, but the only weapon he uses is the terribly smelly excrement that he sprays on his enemy.

But they are persistent by nature, and anyone who had to fall under such a “shower” will remember for a long time unpleasant feeling, although the liquid does not cause irritation on the skin, it only affects the sense of smell.

The caught snake defends itself in two ways: active (throws out a portion of stinking liquid from the cloaca) and passive (falls into a state of imaginary death, relaxing the body and sticking out the tongue from the wide-open mouth).

In places where snakes and other snakes permanently live, you can often find their “shirts” and crawling out. They are very thin and almost transparent.

Crawlings are the skin that has fallen behind the body, or rather the cuticle, which is shed by snakes several times a year, but only during the period of active activity, approximately from April to September. In winter, snakes and snakes in general, while in shelters, do not shed.

It is interesting that during molting, a transparent film comes off simultaneously with the cuticle and from the eyes, so before molting, for several days, snakes’ eyes look cloudy, as if they were wearing protective smoky glasses. Before molting, the entire body loses its natural color, it becomes faded and dull, but a molted snake is always very impressive, all its patterns, strokes, colors and their shades are visible.

The eyes become light, transparent with clearly visible pupils. Snakes' eyes are always open, they do not have blinking eyelids, and this feature has given rise to fables about the hypnotic abilities of snakes, about the miraculous power of a snake's gaze.

Usually the skin comes off the snake’s body like a stocking, but during abnormal molting it comes off from the skin in parts or shreds. At the same time, the snake crawls a lot, rubs against stones, tree bark and other rough surfaces in order to quickly free itself from the remnants of the cuticle that bother it.

Snakes spend the winter, like all reptiles, in shelters. After hibernation, it is time for them to reproduce; the mating period is April-May.

At this time, snakes gather in groups, form balls of intertwined bodies of males and females in different proportions, but more often the number of males is several times greater than the number of females.

Female snakes begin laying eggs in July-August, in humid and warm places.

The hiss of a snake

Heaps of humus, old straw, and fallen leaves are ideal for this. Rotten stumps, damp moss, and mouse holes will also work. At one time, the female lays up to 6 to 30 eggs.

Snake eggs have an elongated, oval shape, are covered with a white, leathery, opaque shell, and are elastic to the touch.

Average length eggs 25-30, and width 18-20 mm. One female lays 10-30 eggs during the summer season, usually once, less often twice. Newly laid eggs are sticky and, during the laying process, their shells stick together, forming chains or shapeless lumps.

Egg development lasts about 2 months, and in cold weather up to 90 days. After hatching from eggs, the constricted ones have a body length with a tail of 130-1 50 mm.

He has earned the title of a good-natured animal, since he almost never uses his teeth in a case against a person; in addition, he gets along well, both in freedom and in captivity, with other animals.

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Snakes are slender, non-venomous snakes. Their dorsal scales have pronounced keels. The pupil is round. The head is protected by a small number of large smooth scutes.

The ventral side is usually spotted.

All snakes “love” water - they swim and dive perfectly.

The common snake is the largest representative of the genus of snakes. Its record length (including tail) is 205 cm, but usually adult specimens do not reach a meter in size. The tail is relatively long, occupying a fifth and sometimes a third of the total length.

The most common color for us is black with a pair of large yellow spots at the back of the head. However, other color variations are also common, and in some habitats of the species there are many more of them than in others. The upperparts may be gray in various shades, sometimes with dark, sometimes staggered spots or narrow transverse stripes.

Dark spots may form a fine mesh pattern. There are forms of snakes with longitudinal light stripes. The spots at the back of the head can be different shades of yellow, as well as white, orange-red or pink. Sometimes they are absent altogether. The upper labial scutes are white, separated by black stripes.

The ventral side of the body is grayish-white with gray-blue or black spots. Among common grass snakes, complete melanists - completely black individuals - are occasionally found. There are also known cases of the appearance of real grayish-white-pink albinos with red eyes.

Snakes' eyes are quite large.

The differences between males and females are weakly expressed. Males are slightly smaller than females and have a longer tail.

Range of the common grass snake

The common snake has a huge range - almost all of Europe, North Africa and much of Asia (including areas of Northern Mongolia and Northern China).

In Russia, it is found throughout the European part, reaching the south of the Republics of Karelia and Komi.

Why do snakes hiss?

In the east of the country it spreads to Lake Baikal.

The common grass snake is found in a wide variety of, but mostly wet, places. There are many snakes in the floodplains of rivers, along the banks of lakes and ponds, in swamps, and in reed thickets. However, they can be found both in the steppe and in the mountains at altitudes up to 2500 meters.

This snake is not afraid of human proximity, often appears on cultivated lands, and even crawls into buildings. Sometimes it settles in the basements of houses, in heaps of garbage, etc.

In some habitats, snakes are very numerous. At the same time, in the north of its range, in Russia, it is a very rare species; here only a few individuals can be found, and the local population, usually very familiar with the surrounding fauna, knows nothing about it.

Snakes crawl very quickly and deftly, easily climb trees, often enter the water and swim well, dive and can stay under water for a long time (up to half an hour).

Once a swimming snake was spotted in the open sea at a distance of 25 miles from the coast.

Snakes do not have special holes or shelters - at night they hide under the roots of trees, in piles of leaves and branches, under stones.

They often crawl into hay and into cracks in buildings. For the winter, they take refuge in deeper and more reliable places - in rodent burrows, pits, and also in human buildings. It happened that severe frosts drove snakes wintering there out of the basements of houses and they appeared in the rooms, and sometimes even crawled into the bed.

Snakes often spend the winter alone or in groups of several individuals. But they often have mass wintering areas, to which animals flock in large numbers.

There, together with snakes, common vipers and copperheads can spend the winter. Sometimes real snake processions are observed, when along paths invisible to us, but familiar to the snakes, they crawl to their wintering places one after another in a certain direction (perhaps the scent trail left by their fellow pioneers helps them find their way). The common snake is a very peaceful snake. When meeting a person, he always tries to slip away unnoticed.

If this fails, it can defend itself, trying to scare off the enemy. Like a cobra, it raises the front part of its body, while its neck becomes flat. It hisses and lunges towards danger, sometimes even with its mouth open. However, it bites extremely rarely, even if you pick it up.

The bite of its small teeth, although sensitive, is not strong or painful. Usually he tries to free himself with vigorous movements of the whole body and releases a foul-smelling liquid from the glands located near the cloaca. It also emptys the intestines by regurgitating recently eaten food and throwing out excrement.

Perhaps he does this not so much as a defense, but because of stress. If this does not help, he uses a very characteristic tactic - pretending to be dead. All his muscles relax, he hangs like a rope, his mouth is lifelessly open, his tongue falls out of it, and in some cases even saliva with blood drips.

He can pretend to be dead not only in his hands, but also on the ground, if the pursuer does not give him the opportunity to hide. Often at the same time, as if in convulsions, he turns his abdominal side up.

What do common snakes eat?

Snakes are active at dusk and during the day.

It would seem that with such a wide range of habitats and activity times, and even being so dexterous, snakes could catch a wide variety of prey.

But, unlike boas, they prefer almost exclusively amphibians, mainly frogs, as well as newts, toads, and tadpoles. Much less often they eat insects, fish, and lizards; very rarely - birds and mammals. Having destroyed a bird's nest, he can feast on the chicks or eggs, but this is exceptional cases(as well as cases of swallowing vipers during joint content these snakes in a terrarium).

The dependence of snakes on frogs is strong, and the reason for the disappearance of these snakes in a number of places was a sharp decrease in the number of frogs.

Snakes do not lie in wait for their prey, but actively search for it. Having noticed the frog, he begins to touch and does not sing and carefully creep up to it (if one can say so about an animal completely devoid of limbs).

When he manages to crawl close enough to the potential victim without disturbing the potential victim, he makes a sharp lunge and grabs the frog.

It holds slippery prey with its small sharp teeth. If a cautious frog notices the danger in time and dives into the water, it will no longer pursue it, but will slowly begin to look out for a new victim. On land, when he sees a frog, he can chase it.

The frog, apparently, is experiencing severe stress at this moment - it “runs away” not with long jumps, which would give it a chance of salvation, but with short and rare jumps. At the same time, she makes a strange sound, completely different from the croaking we are used to, reminiscent of a plaintive bleat.

It is not at all difficult for a snake to catch such prey.

The captured victim immediately begins to swallow alive.

Frogs have no claws, no teeth, no sharp spines that are dangerous for a predator, so they don’t risk anything. His mouth opens incredibly wide, and he doesn’t care which end he eats the victim from - he swallows it from the place where he grabbed it. After all, as soon as you loosen your grip, the frightened, but still living and mobile prey will slip away.

The left and right halves of the jaws of the snake, like most snakes, are movably connected to each other and “work” like the blades of a snowblower, alternately intercepting the body of the victim and gradually pushing it into the mouth.

The unfortunate frog beats and croaks. Swallowing large prey can take a long time, sometimes several hours. It swallows small frogs quickly, practically without damaging them. If you catch a snake that has just eaten, it will regurgitate its prey. And sometimes it turns out that recently “eaten” frogs remain alive and subsequently return to normal - being inside the snake does not reduce their viability.

However, not all types of prey are completely defenseless against the snake.

Toads sometimes manage to protect themselves using characteristic defensive techniques. Poisonous secretions of the skin glands of some amphibians - fire salamander, midwife toads are dangerous for snakes.

There have been cases when snakes that swallowed salamanders died from poisoning.

Common snakes have individual differences in tastes: some, in addition to frogs, willingly eat, for example, toads, others never touch them.

Some individuals in the terrarium get used to eating raw meat.

Snakes are voracious: they can swallow four or five frogs at a time. But they can also go hungry for a long time. There is a known case when a large female lived without food for 14 months, maintaining mobility; she only drank water.

Ordinary snakes look at each other rather indifferently.

They do not have any forms of aggressive behavior towards their relatives. This is obviously due to the formation of large concentrations of grass snakes in different situations- during the winter, in the most suitable places for recreation or hunting, during breeding.

Breeding snakes

Basic mating season- spring, but sometimes autumn mating is also observed.

In general, snakes appear quite early after wintering. There is still snow everywhere in the forest, and somewhere on the edge, in clearings, you can find a snake curled up in a tight ball, basking in the rays of the spring sun.

In such warm, wind-protected areas in the spring, males and females meet to procreate. In the most favorable places in good weather you can meet several pairs at the same time. Sometimes a female attracts several males at once - up to 20 applicants have been observed courting a single female. In this case, a group of snakes is formed, which is sometimes called a “mating ball.”

At the same time, the rivals do not fight each other, much less bite. They only seek to prevent each other from taking possession of the female.

Courtship behavior in common grass snakes is simple. The male, approaching the female, periodically nods his head, then usually crawls onto her or presses tightly to her side, wrapping his tail around her tail. The male snake does not hold his partner with his jaws, as some other snakes do.

During mating, snakes lose their usual vigilance, and you can get very close to them.

Common snakes reproduce by laying eggs that have different shape- either oblong, elongated, or more rounded, and sometimes pear-shaped. The length of the egg is from 2 to 4 centimeters, the diameter is 1-2 centimeters. The eggs are covered with a white leathery film, which is moist and sticky immediately after laying. This shell consists of microscopic fibers of the different structures, which are impregnated with sticky protein.

Thanks to this, the eggs stick together and stick to surrounding objects. After drying, the shell becomes denser and it is quite difficult to separate the eggs or remove them from the clutch. Such strong, non-crumbling masonry ensures better preservation of eggs and protects them from moisture loss.

The clutch size depends primarily on the age of the female.

Young snakes lay 8-15 eggs, older ones - about 30. The record clutch consisted of 105 eggs.

For successful incubation of eggs, the female chooses a moist, warm place, protected from the sun, most often a pile of loose substrate - peat, foliage, sawdust, etc. There, easily pushing apart, for example, foliage with her body, she builds a chamber and lays eggs in it in a compact heap. If an object lying on the ground (for example, a rotten tree trunk) is selected for this purpose, the eggs are laid in an elongated layer.

Places with the most favorable conditions Many females are attracted to lay eggs, and then mass clutches arise, which are widely known specifically among common grass snakes.

Up to three thousand eggs were found in them, laid by many females.

A “public” incubator can be located in one place for several years. Sometimes mass clutches are found near human habitation. Once such masonry was made in the cracks of the stone wall of an old house. And when the hatching began, the residents were subjected to a real invasion of newborn snakes. Frightened people killed more than 1,200 people.

Depending on the ambient temperature incubation period lasts one to two months.

When ready to hatch, the chick has developed a special egg tooth, with which it makes several cuts in the shell of the egg and opens the exit to the outside. When it first sees the light, the baby snake carefully pokes its head out and, at the slightest danger, hides back into the egg. Only after making sure that nothing threatens him does he slip out of the shell.

The length of newborns is 14-22 centimeters; in color they practically do not differ from adult individuals.

In nature, they immediately begin to feed on baby frogs, as well as earthworms and insects. They become sexually mature in the third or fourth year of life.

The life of each common grass snake is associated with a certain space - an individual area in which it spends the main part of its active season from year to year. Such an area has an area of ​​​​several hectares, and there are shelters, hunting and resting places well known to the snake. The individual territories of individual individuals overlap widely, since the snakes do not defend their possessions in any way.

They may leave their areas for wintering shelters, but return back in the spring. Female grass snakes also migrate to egg-laying sites.

Enemies of common snakes

This snake does not have any effective, active methods of defense against enemies - it can either run away or scare away its pursuer. Therefore, many different animals include grass snakes in their menu.

Dinner eggs are often attacked by ants. Newborns even become victims of predatory insects (for example, ground beetles). Snakes swimming in the water are attacked large fish: There is a known case when a rainbow trout 37 centimeters long was caught while eating a 62-centimeter snake.

Common snakes and their favorite food - toads and frogs - sometimes switch roles. During the period of mass birth, large toads are constricted and lake frogs regularly feast on them. In rare cases, snakes become victims of large lizards; sometimes snakes of other species prey on snakes.

About 40 species of birds include them in their diet. There are no fewer enemies among mammals; This includes the hedgehog - the threat of all snakes, and small rodents that willingly feed on small bites; there are also cases of cannibalism.

The snake's serious enemy is man. The snake is a very noticeable snake that also lives close to humans. Since fear of snakes is in people’s blood, and many do not know how to distinguish between dangerous and harmless snakes, snakes are also destroyed “just in case.”

Meanwhile, it is quite simple to distinguish an ordinary grass snake from the only poisonous viper snake that lives together with it in most regions of Russia. Bright, usually yellow, spots in the back of the head, large scutes on it and a long slender body clearly distinguish the snake from the massive viper, whose head is covered with small scales and scutes and never has such spots.

Snakes are also disappearing due to a decrease in the number of frogs, as well as due to the drying out of their wet habitats. In many places in Europe, this snake is among the species under threat of complete extinction.

A peace-loving person gets along well with people and in the house.

In the terrarium, he quickly gets used to the owner and even takes food from his hands. It is much less demanding on living conditions than most other reptiles. Easily reproduces in captivity. In the 19th century in the Kazan province, snakes were kept as pets in some huts.

Already- it's quite large non-venomous snake. The average length of this reptile is from 80 to 90 centimeters, but larger specimens of one and a half meters in length can also be found. The snake's body is unevenly colored: top part the body is dark (black, brown or dark gray), and the ventral side is almost white.

Snake sounds

It is very easy to distinguish it from other snakes by the yellow or bright orange spots that are located on the sides of its head. He swims very well, quickly bending his body and keeping his head above the surface of the water, and even knows how to dive.

Where live

Snakes live in almost all European countries, with the exception of Great Britain and Scandinavia.

Their favorite places are damp, shady forests and the banks of rivers and lakes, where they hide under piles of stones, under tree roots or in burrows. They can often be seen near human habitation.

What do they eat?

Snakes feed mainly on frogs, toads, lizards, chicks that have fallen from nests, and very rarely on fish.

They hunt only during daylight hours, and at night they hide in secluded places. Juveniles mainly eat insects. The snake swallows its prey whole. If she settles near a human dwelling, she successfully catches mice.

Therefore, in some countries, these snakes are tamed, and they, just as well as cats, help people get rid of rodents in their homes.

How do they reproduce?

At the end of summer, female grass snakes lay from one to three dozen eggs, which are covered with a soft, leathery shell. The female chooses a secluded, damp place for the nest, and after one and a half to two months small snakes emerge from the eggs. They immediately crawl out of the nest and begin to live an independent life.

How do they winter

With the onset of cold weather, snakes hide in places where frost cannot penetrate.

These can be deep holes that other animals have dug, or voids under large stones and roots. Very often, several snakes spend the winter in one such secluded place. With the onset of warmth, they wake up from hibernation, become active and spread out.

Snakes are not dangerous at all, which is why many people keep them as pets.

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