Report of a horned viper. The Persian horned viper is a rare snake with a twist

Since ancient times, the horned viper has firmly established itself in the African deserts, terrifying the aborigines. This creature can scare you with its appearance alone, because the reptile has small but scary horns above its eyes. Everyone understands that the danger does not lie in this unusual decoration for snakes, but they are still afraid.

As for the danger, it is worth remembering the well-known one, very much called Noisy. The horned viper is similar to it in that both have an extremely toxic venom. Its hemolytic toxins significantly increase the rate of tissue decomposition. In their family, these poisonous reptiles rank first in terms of danger to humans. But today we’ll talk about one of them - the horned viper.

Horned viper: description

Uninformed people may confuse the horned viper with its relative, which also has small horns. It's called the horned tree viper. The differences between these poisonous individuals are significant. The arboreal reptile lives in Tanzania in the mountain ranges, and its color ranges from yellow with a green tint to black or gray, which cannot be said about the horned viper. In a word, they are connected only by belonging to the same genus, extraordinary poisonousness and horns on the head.

It's time to return to our main character of the article - the horned viper. Her body reaches 65-70 cm in length. The body is quite massive and thick; this person cannot be called skinny. The tail is short, sharply tapering towards the end.

The head is triangular in shape, it is strictly limited by the cervical interception from the body. The eyes are large with vertical pupils. Above the eyes, the scales are vertically raised and have sharp tips. In appearance, this snake “decoration” looks exactly like small horns, you look at them and feel twofold feelings - fear and admiration!

The entire body of the viper is covered with scales, they are directed at an angle downwards, thus forming something like a saw. The color of the back is yellow, along the sides and back there are olive spots.

Habitat

The horned viper lives in hot deserts and sand dunes. The poisonous creature spreads to North Africa and part of the Arabian Peninsula. Hot sands are the home of this reptile.

It moves sideways, throwing the back of its body to the side and at the same time forward. When the breeding season begins, the viper looks for a place with a small amount water. And the rest of the time it feels great in waterless areas, perfectly tolerating sudden changes in daily temperature.

Horned viper: lifestyle

The horned beauty is a sole worker, she does not like companies, the only exception is mating season. The viper is active at night, loves to soak up the sun during the day, but sleeps more, buried in the sand or hidden among the rocks. “Sunbathing” under the sun’s rays, she tries to position herself so that most of her body is exposed to the sun.

If a horned viper notices danger, it immediately does everything to scare the enemy. Usually in such cases it folds into a half ring and rubs one side against the other. During such snake movements, the scales rub against each other, making an extremely unpleasant sound. Hearing it, you immediately want to get away from this dangerous place.

The snake goes hunting at night, but if in the light of day it comes across easy prey, the horned predator will not miss the opportunity to have a snack. He hunts, burying himself up to his eyes in the sand. Thus, she can wait for her victim for a long time.

As soon as prey appears nearby, the viper immediately attacks it, opening its mouth wide. The fangs move forward and become vertical. When the mouth closes on the body of the victim, the snake bites through the skin and injects poison. After this, having released the captive, the huntress calmly waits. The waiting time is calculated in minutes, then the reptile touches the motionless body with its tongue; if the prey does not react, the snake swallows it whole.

The viper's menu includes: birds, reptiles, rodents and other small prey.

Reproduction

The mating season for horned vipers runs from April to June. At this time, snakes are extremely active, they scurry around in search of a partner. Once they meet, vipers do not spend time together for a long time. As soon as mating occurs, they disperse into their territories.

Being an oviparous snake, the horned viper diligently looks for a place with moist soil. When the site is found, the fertilized female digs a hole and lays eggs there. There are up to 20 eggs in one snake clutch. Having buried the egg with its future offspring, the satisfied reptile crawls away about its business, and this is where its maternal mission is over.

After two months, small vipers hatch from the eggs. They are not at all helpless, like most newborns. From the first day of life they display the skills of predators, skillfully swallowing locusts. As they grow, the snakes' prey becomes more significant, and they themselves increase in size. Horned vipers become sexually mature at the age of two.

As mentioned earlier, the bite of representatives of this species is deadly. It seems that there is no person who would like to be next to this monster. But, despite the danger, many terrarium lovers keep horned vipers in their homes. It is worth noting that in captivity, under proper conditions, they feel great.

Horned viper / Cerastes cerastes

During the day, the snake burrows into the sand or hides in rodent holes, and at nightfall it goes out to hunt for small rodents and birds. Young individuals feed on locusts and lizards. The “horns” of vipers are undoubtedly the most spectacular attribute of their appearance, but the supraorbital scales are sometimes very weakly expressed. Therefore, some spellcasters, not content with the natural size of the “horns,” glue the sharp tips of porcupine quills over the eyes of their “artists” to ensure their success with the gullible public.

Horned viper can reach about 60-65 cm in length and it is immediately obvious that it is a child of the desert, since its body has a color similar to that of sand. The main color is brownish-yellow, on it you can notice either almost quadrangular or rounded, vaguely protruding or clearly defined transverse spots of red-brown or dark brown color; They are located in six longitudinal rows and decrease from the middle to the sides. Under the eyes of the viper there is a stripe of dark brown color, and in the middle of the head you can see a light stripe of yellowish-brown color, which on the back of the head is divided into two and connected to two other similar stripes that go from the chin. The scales surrounding the mouth are light yellow-sandy in color, and the scutes of the lower part of the body are white or light yellow. One belt around the body has from 29 to 33 scales; on the back they are vertically positioned towards each other, and on the sides they take an indirect direction; the anal scute is undivided, and the scutes on the tail are divided into two.

The image of this viper can be seen in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, since its original name “phi” was later used to depict a similar letter. Herodotus mentioned this snake and says that it lives near Thebes, has two horns on its head and does not pose a danger to people; in addition, he noted that it is considered sacred, but did not explain why. Other ancient writers only described her appearance.

Horned viper is widespread throughout, except for, as well as in the territory of rocky Arabia; it can be found south of the desert belt, for example, the horned viper was found in the East, and also, quite often, in the steppes of Kordofan. Gesner said that Africa is full of these vipers; There are especially many of these snakes in the barren and sandy Libyan desert. There is a legend according to which there used to be a lot of horned vipers; they occupied a significant part of the country's territory, and it was turned into desert, since no one could live there.

They usually live under the sand in sandy places or lie near roads in burrows, from where they can attack those who pass by without much difficulty, which others also like to do. Although the horned viper is very playful and poisonous, only it and the common viper can remain alive for such a long time without water.

Horned vipers give birth to live young. They can crawl quite well with a huge number of twists and turns, and it whistles and makes a lot of noise, like a ship that is carried by the waves and tossed to and fro by the wind.

The horned viper hunts birds quite diligently, luring birds with its horns protruding above the earth's surface, hiding its body under the sand; After that, she quickly grabs her prey and kills it. These vipers cause absolutely no friendship or love among the residents, but they wish harm and hate them. They do not harm psillas, and the bites of these snakes are not dangerous for them, so these people can drive them away with their bare hands not only from themselves, but also from other people. To test the fidelity of their wives, the psillas place their children on these snakes, just as gold is tested with fire.

Californian ground cuckoo is a North American bird from the cuckoo family (Cuculidae). It lives in deserts and semi-deserts in the south and southwest of the United States and northern Mexico.

Adult ground cuckoos reach a length of 51 to 61 cm, including the tail. They have a long, slightly downward curved beak. The head, crest, back and long tail are dark brown with light splashes. The neck and belly are also light. Very long legs and a long tail are adaptations to the desert running lifestyle.

Most representatives of the cuckoo suborder stay in the crowns of trees and shrubs, fly well, and this species lives on the ground. Thanks to the peculiar build of the body and long legs, the cuckoo moves completely like a chicken. As she runs, she stretches her neck somewhat, slightly opens her wings and raises her crest. Only when necessary does the bird fly into trees or fly short distances.

The California ground cuckoo can reach speeds of up to 42 km/h. The special arrangement of her toes also helps her in this, since both outer toes are located back, and both inner toes are located forward. However, due to its short wings, it flies very poorly and can stay in the air for only a few seconds.

The California ground cuckoo has developed an unusual, energy-efficient way to spend cold nights in the desert. At this time of day, her body temperature drops and she falls into a kind of motionless hibernation. On its back there are dark areas of skin not covered with feathers. In the morning, she spreads her feathers and exposes these areas of skin to the sun, due to which her body temperature quickly returns to normal levels.

This bird spends most of its time on the ground and hunts snakes, lizards, insects, rodents and small birds. She is fast enough to kill even small vipers, which she grabs by the tail with her beak and hits her head on the ground like a whip. She swallows her prey whole. Yours English name This bird received the Road Runner because it used to run after postal carriages and grab small animals disturbed by their wheels.

The ground cuckoo fearlessly appears where other desert inhabitants are reluctant to penetrate - into the domain of rattlesnakes, since these poisonous reptiles, especially young ones, serve as prey for birds. The cuckoo usually attacks the snake, trying to hit it in the head with its powerful long beak. At the same time, the bird constantly jumps, dodging the opponent’s throws. Ground cuckoos are monogamous: during the period of hatching the chicks, a pair is formed, and both parents incubate the clutch and feed the cuckoos. Birds build a nest from twigs and dry grass in bushes or thickets of cacti. There are 3 - 9 white eggs in a clutch. Cuckoo chicks are fed exclusively by reptiles.

Death Valley

- the driest and hottest place in North America and unique natural landscape in the southwestern United States (California and Nevada). It was in this place back in 1913 that the most heat on Earth: on July 10, near the miniature town of Furnace Creek, the thermometer showed +57 degrees Celsius.

Death Valley got its name from the settlers who crossed it in 1849, trying to the shortest route reach the gold mines of California. The guidebook briefly reports that “some stayed there forever.” The dead were ill-prepared for crossing the desert, did not stock up on water and lost their orientation. Before dying, one of them cursed this place, calling it Death Valley. The few survivors withered mule meat on the wreckage of dismantled carts and reached their goal. They left behind them “cheerful” geographical names: Death Valley, Funeral Ridge, Last Chance Ridge, Coffin Canyon, Dead Man's Passage, Hell's Gate, Rattlesnake Gorge, etc.

Death Valley is surrounded on all sides by mountains. This is a seismically active region, the surface of which shifts along fault lines. Huge blocks earth's surface move in the process of underground earthquakes, the mountains become higher, and the valley goes lower and lower in relation to sea level. On the other hand, erosion is constantly occurring - the destruction of mountains as a result of the influence of natural forces. Small and large stones, minerals, sand, salts and clay washed away from the surface of the mountains fill the valley (now the level of these ancient layers is about 2,750 m). However, the intensity geological processes much exceeds the force of erosion, so in the next millions of years the trend of “growth” of the mountains and lowering of the valley will continue.

The Badwater Basin is the lowest part of Death Valley, located at 85.5 m below sea level. Sometime after Ice Age Death Valley was a huge lake with fresh water. The local hot and dry climate contributed to the inevitable evaporation of water. Annual short-term, but very intense rains wash tons of minerals from the surface of the mountains into the lowlands. The salts remaining after the evaporation of water settle at the bottom, reaching their highest concentration in the lowest place, in a reservoir with poor water. Here rainwater linger longer, forming small temporary lakes. Once upon a time, the first settlers were surprised that their dehydrated mules refused to drink water from these lakes, and marked “bad water” on the map. This is how this area got its name. In fact, the water in the pool (when it is available) is not poisonous, but it tastes very salty. It also has its own unique inhabitants that are not found in other places: algae, aquatic insects, larvae, and even a mollusk named after its place of residence, Badwater Snail.

In a vast area of ​​the valley, located below the level of the World Ocean, and which was once the bottom of a prehistoric lake, one can observe the amazing behavior of salt deposits. This area is divided into two different zones, differing in texture and shape of salt crystals. In the first case, salt crystals grow upward, forming bizarre pointed piles and labyrinths 30-70 cm high. They form an interesting foreground with its chaos, well emphasized by the rays of the low sun in the morning and evening hours. Sharp as knives, growing crystals on a hot day emit an ominous, unique crackling sound. This part of the valley is quite difficult to navigate, but it is better not to spoil this beauty.

Nearby is the lowest area in the Valley Badwater Basin. Salt behaves differently here. A uniform salt grid 4-6 cm high is formed on an absolutely flat white surface. The grid consists of figures gravitating towards a hexagon in shape, and covers the bottom of the Valley with a huge web, creating an absolutely unearthly landscape.

In the southern part of Death Valley is a flat, level clay plain - the bottom of the dry lake Racetrack Playa - called Racetrack Playa. According to the very phenomenon found in this area - “self-propelled” stones.

Sailing stones, also called sliding or crawling stones, are a geological phenomenon. The stones move slowly along the clayey bottom of the lake, as evidenced by the long tracks left behind them. The stones move independently without the help of living creatures, but no one has ever seen or recorded the movement on camera. Similar movements of stones have been noted in several other places, but in terms of the number and length of tracks, Racetrack Playa stands out from the rest.

In 1933, Death Valley was declared a national monument, and in 1994 it received the status National Park and the park's territory was expanded to include another 500 thousand hectares of land.

The park includes the Salina Valley, most of the Panamint Valley, and several mountain systems. In the west rises Mount Telescope Peak, in the east – Mount Dante’s View, from the height of which you can see beautiful view throughout the entire valley.

There are many picturesque places here, especially on the slopes adjacent to the desert plain: the extinct Ubehebe volcano, the Titus Canyon. 300 m and length 20 km; a small lake with very salty water, in which a small shrimp lives; there are 22 species in the desert unique plants, 17 species of lizards and 20 species of snakes. The park has a unique landscape. This is an unusual wild beautiful nature, graceful rock formations, snow-capped mountain peaks, scorching salt plateaus, shallow canyons, hills covered with millions of delicate flowers.

coati- a mammal from the genus Noshu of the raccoon family. This mammal received its name for its elongated and very funny movable snout-nose.
Their head is narrow, their hair is short, their ears are round and small. There is a white rim on the edge of the inside of the ears. Nosukha is the owner of a very long tail, which is almost always in a vertical position. The animal uses its tail to balance itself when moving. The characteristic color of the tail is an alternation of light yellow, brown and black rings.

The color of the nose is varied: from orange to dark brown. The muzzle is usually uniform black or brown colors. There are light spots on the face, below and above the eyes. The neck is yellowish, the paws are black or dark brown.

the catch is elongated, the paws are strong with five fingers and non-retractable claws. The nose digs the ground with its claws, obtaining food. The hind legs are longer than the front legs. The length of the body from the nose to the tip of the tail is 80-130 cm, the length of the tail itself is 32-69 cm. The height at the withers is about 20-29 cm. They weigh about 3-5 kg. Males are almost twice as large as females.

Nosukhi live on average 7-8 years, but in captivity they can live up to 14 years. They live in tropical and subtropical forests South America and southern USA. Their favorite place These are dense bushes, low-lying forests, rocky terrain. Due to human intervention, lately nosos prefer forest edges and clearings.

They say that nosuhs used to be called simply badgers, but since real badgers moved to Mexico, the true homeland of nosuhs, this species received its own individual name.

Coatis move on the ground in a very interesting and unusual way; first they rest on the palms of their front paws, and then waddle forward with their hind paws. For this manner of walking, noses are also called plantigrades. Nosukhas are usually active during the day, most of which they spend on the ground in search of food, while at night they sleep in trees, which also serve to make a den and give birth to offspring. When they are threatened by danger on the ground, they hide from it in the trees; when the enemy is on a tree, they easily jump from a branch of one tree to a lower branch on the same or even another tree.

All noses, including coatis, are predators! Coatis get food for themselves with their noses, diligently sniffling and groaning, they inflate the foliage in this way and look for termites, ants, scorpions, beetles, and larvae under it. Sometimes it can also feed on land crabs, frogs, lizards, and rodents. During the hunt, the coati clamps its prey with its paws and bites its head. In difficult times of hunger, the Nosukhi allow themselves vegetarian cuisine; they eat ripe fruits, which, as a rule, are always in abundance in the forest. Moreover, they do not make reserves, but return to the tree from time to time.

Nosuhs live both in groups and alone. In groups there are 5-6 individuals, sometimes their number reaches 40. In groups there are only females and young males. Adult males live alone. The reason for this is their aggressive attitude towards children. They are expelled from the group and return only to mate.

Males usually lead a solitary lifestyle and only during the mating season do they join family groups of females with young ones. During the mating season, which is usually from October to March, one male is accepted into the group of females and young ones. All mature females living in the group mate with this male, and soon after mating he leaves the group.

In advance, before giving birth, the pregnant female leaves the group and is busy arranging a den for the future offspring. The shelter is usually located in tree hollows, in depressions in the soil, among stones, but most often in a rocky niche in a forested canyon. Caring for the young rests entirely with the female; the male does not take part in this.
As soon as young males turn two years old, they leave the group and subsequently lead a solitary lifestyle, females remain in the group.

Nosukha gives birth to cubs once a year. Usually there are 2-6 cubs in a litter. Newborns weigh 100-180 grams and are completely dependent on the mother, who leaves the nest for a while to find food. The eyes open at approximately 11 days. For several weeks, the babies remain in the nest, and then leave it with their mother and join family group.
Lactation lasts up to four months. Young noses stay with their mother until she begins to prepare for the birth of the next offspring.

Red Lynx is the most common wild cat on the North American continent. In general appearance, this is a typical lynx, but it is almost twice as small as an ordinary lynx and is not so long-legged and wide-legged. Its body length is 60-80 cm, height at the withers is 30-35 cm, weight is 6-11 kg. You can recognize a red lynx by its white

a mark on the inside of the black tip of the tail, smaller ear tufts and a lighter color. The fluffy fur may be reddish brown or gray. In Florida, there are even completely black individuals, the so-called “melanists”. The wild cat's face and paws are decorated with black markings.

You can meet the red lynx in dense subtropical forests or in desert areas among prickly cacti, on high mountain slopes or in swampy lowlands. The presence of humans does not prevent it from appearing on the outskirts of villages or small towns. This predator chooses areas where it can feast on small rodents, nimble squirrels or timid rabbits and even prickly porcupines.

Although Red Lynx climbs trees well, she climbs them only in search of food and shelter. It hunts at dusk; only young animals go hunting during the day.

Vision and hearing are well developed. Hunts on the ground, sneaking up on prey. The lynx holds its prey with its sharp claws and kills it with a bite to the base of the skull. In one sitting, an adult animal eats up to 1.4 kg of meat. He hides the remaining surplus and returns to it the next day.For rest, the red lynx chooses a new place every day, without lingering in the old one. This could be a crack in the rocks, a cave, a hollow log, a space under a fallen tree, etc. On the ground or snow, the red lynx takes a step approximately 25 - 35 cm long; The size of an individual footprint is approximately 4.5 x 4.5 cm. When walking, they place their hind paws exactly in the tracks left by their front paws. Thanks to this, they never make very loud noise from the crackling of dry twigs under their feet. Soft pillows on their legs help them calmly sneak up to the animal at close range. Bobcats are good tree climbers and can also swim across a small body of water, but they only do this on rare occasions.

The red lynx is a territorial animal. The lynx marks the boundaries of the site and its paths with urine and feces. In addition, she leaves marks of her claws on trees. The male learns that the female is ready to mate by the smell of her urine. A mother with cubs is very aggressive towards any animal or person that threatens her kittens.

IN wildlife males and females love solitude, meeting only during the breeding season. The only time when individuals of different sexes look for meetings is during the mating season, which occurs at the end of winter - the beginning of spring. The male mates with all the females that are in the same area with him. The female's pregnancy lasts only 52 days. Cubs are born in the spring, blind and helpless. At this time, the female tolerates the male only not far from the den. After about a week, the babies' eyes open slightly, but for another eight weeks they remain with their mother and are fed with her milk. The mother licks their fur and warms them with her body. The female red lynx is a very caring mother. In case of danger, she moves the kittens to another shelter.

When the cubs begin to eat solid food, the mother allows the male to approach the den. The male regularly brings food to the cubs and helps the female raise them. This kind of parental care is unusual phenomenon for males wild cats. When the kids grow up, the whole family travels, stopping at a short time in various shelters of the female's hunting area. When the kittens are 4-5 months old, the mother begins to teach them hunting techniques. At this time, kittens play a lot with each other and through games they learn about in various ways obtaining food, hunting and behavior in difficult situations. The cubs spend another 6-8 months with their mother (before the start of the new mating season).

A male bobcat often occupies an area of ​​100 km2, and border areas may be shared by several males. The female's area is half the size. Within the territory of one male, 2-3 females usually live. A male red lynx, whose territory is often home to three females and cubs, must provide food for 12 kittens.

Among the almost two and a half thousand species of higher plants found in the flora of the Sonoran Desert, the most widely represented are species from the family of Compositae, legumes, cereals, buckwheat, euphorbia, cactus and borage. A number of communities characteristic of the main habitats make up the vegetation of the Sonoran Desert.

The extensive, slightly sloping alluvial fans support vegetation, the main components of which are clumps of creosote bush and ragweed. They also include several types of prickly pear, quinoa, acacia, fuqueria, or ocotillo.

On the alluvial plains below the fans, the vegetation cover mainly consists of sparse forest of mesquite trees. Their roots, penetrating deep, reach groundwater, and the roots located in the surface layer of soil, within a radius of up to twenty meters from the trunk, can intercept precipitation. A mature mesquite tree reaches a height of eighteen meters and can be more than a meter wide. In our time, only the pitiful remnants of the once majestic mesquite forests remain, long cut down for fuel. The mesquite forest is very similar to the black saxaul thickets in the Karakum Desert. The forest, in addition to mesquite, includes clematis and acacia.

Near the water, along the banks of rivers, near the water, there are poplars, with ash and Mexican elder mixed in with them. Plants such as acacia, creosote bush and celtis grow in the beds of arroyos, drying up temporary streams, as well as in the adjacent plains. In the Gran Desierto Desert, near the Gulf of California coast, ragweed and creosote bush dominate the sandy plains, while ephedra and tobosa, ragweed, grow on the sand dunes.

Trees here grow only on large dry riverbeds. The mountains are mainly inhabited by cacti and xerophilous shrubs, but the cover is very sparse. The saguaro is quite rare (and completely absent in California) and its distribution here is again limited to riverbeds. Annuals (mostly winter ones) make up almost half of the flora, and in the driest areas up to 90% species composition: They appear in huge numbers only in wet years.

In the Arizona Highlands, northwest of the Sonoran Desert, the vegetation is especially colorful and varied. The denser vegetation cover and diversity of vegetation is due to more rainfall here than in other areas of Sonora, as well as the ruggedness of the terrain, a combination of steep slopes of different exposures and hills. A peculiar cactus forest, in which the main place is occupied by the giant columnar saguaro cactus, with a low-growing encelia shrub located between the cacti, is formed on gravelly soils with a large amount of fine earth. Vegetation also includes large barrel-shaped ferocactus, ocotillo, paloverde, several types of prickly pear, acacia, celtis, creosote bush, as well as mesquite trees in the floodplains.

The most common tree species here are foothill paloverde, ironwood, acacia and saguaro. Under the canopy of these tall trees 3-5 tiers of shrubs and trees can be developed different heights. The most characteristic cacti - tall choyas - form a real "cactus forest" in rocky areas.

The trees and shrubs of the Sonoran Desert that attract attention with their unique appearance include ivory tree, ironwood and idria, or buium, growing only in two areas of the Sonoran Desert, located in Mexico, which is part of the region of Latin America.

A small area in the center of Sonora, which consists of a series of very wide valleys between mountain ranges. It has denser vegetation than the Arizona Highlands because it receives more rain (mostly in the summer) and the soils are thicker and finer-grained. The flora is almost the same as in the highlands, but some tropical elements are added, since frosts are more rare and mild. There are a lot of legume trees, especially mesquites, and few columnar cacti. There are isolated “islands” of thorny bushes on the hills. Much of the area has been converted to agricultural land in recent decades.

The Vizcaino region is located in the central third of the California Peninsula. There is little precipitation, but the air is cool, as humid sea breezes often bring fogs, weakening the aridity of the climate. Rain falls mainly in winter and averages less than 125 mm. Here in the flora there are some very unusual plants, bizarre landscapes are characteristic: fields of white granite boulders, cliffs of black lava, etc. Interesting plants– bujams, ivory tree, 30 m high cordon, throttle ficus growing on the rocks and blue palm. In contrast to the main Vizcaino Desert, the Vizcaino Coastal Plain is a flat, cool, foggy desert with 0.3 m tall shrubs and fields of annuals.

District Magdalena is located south of Vizcaino on the California Peninsula and along appearance resembles Vizcaino, but the flora is slightly different. Most of the meager rainfall occurs in the summer, when the Pacific breeze blows from the sea. The only noticeable plant on the pale Magdalena Plain is the creeping devil's cactus (Stenocereus eruca), but away from the coast on the rocky slopes the vegetation is quite dense and consists of trees, shrubs and cacti.

Riverine communities are usually isolated ribbons or islands of deciduous forest along temporary streams. There are very few permanent or dry watercourses (the largest is the Colorado River), but there are many where water appears only a couple of days or even a few hours a year. Dry beds, or "washes", of arroyos - "arroyos" - are places where many trees and shrubs are concentrated. Xerophilous open forests along dry riverbeds are highly variable. Almost pure mesquite forest occurs along some ephemeral streams, others may be dominated by blue paloverde or ironwood, or forest develops mixed type. Characteristic is the so-called "desert willow", which is actually a catalpa.

Flat head, a pair of sharp horns above almost cat eyes, an unusual manner of movement - the owner of such a memorable appearance could not help but leave her mark on history. And indeed, the horned viper (lat. Cerastes cerastes) has long been well known in its homeland - in the arid savannas and foothills North Africa, in the shifting sands of the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula.

According to the testimony of the Greek historian Herodotus, the ancient Egyptians treated horned vipers with great respect and even embalmed their bodies dead snakes. Their mummies were discovered during excavations in Thebes, which suggests an important and even mystical role of horned snakes in the life of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt. It was this reptile that served the Egyptians as the basis for one of the letters of the alphabet - the hieroglyph “phi”. It is believed that the reason for this was the ability of horned vipers to make hissing sounds using their lateral scales.

In general, the role that these scales, similar to pointed blades, play in the life of horned snakes is difficult to overestimate. They are much smaller than the dorsal scales, extend along the entire lateral surface of the body and are directed at an angle downwards, forming something like a long sharp saw.

When a reptile needs to burrow into the sand, it spreads its ribs to the sides, thereby flattening its body, and with rapid vibrating movements, using sawtooth scales as a digging mechanism, it sinks into the sand in a matter of seconds. It is unlikely that you will be able to see the trace of a viper hidden in the sand: the very first breath of wind carries away barely noticeable sandy tubercles left over from the dive.

The horned viper spends the entire daylight hours in abandoned rodent burrows or buried in the sand, leaving only its eyes on the surface. It is almost impossible to notice it in this position: the sandy-yellow coloring of the body, diluted with brown spots, does an excellent job as camouflage. Under the cover of night, horned predators go hunting: moving silently through the night desert, they catch small rodents, birds and lizards.

If the camouflage coloring is not enough, and it is necessary to scare away the uninvited guest, the horned snake stands on its tail in the shape of the letter “C” and begins to vigorously rub one part of the body against the other. And here the lateral scales come to the rescue again: clinging to each other, they produce a loud hissing sound that can continuously last for almost two minutes.

And, of course, the most convincing argument in defense is poison. They say that after being bitten by a horned viper, you feel as if your heart is being squeezed by an invisible fist. But in general, the venom of this snake is not fatal, and the same Egyptians learned to neutralize it more than two thousand years ago.

Another one interesting feature of this reptile is its way of moving. The horned viper moves along the sand using the so-called “lateral move.” She alternately throws the back of her body forward and to the side, and only then pulls up the front. Since the viper does not touch the sand when moving middle part body, then its trace is not a continuous line, but a series of oblique parallel strips located at an angle of approximately 60 degrees to the direction of movement.

And while the horned viper crawls, its scales protruding from the sides collect the morning dew, storing invaluable moisture to survive another long hot day.