What kind of snakes live in the Primorsky region. Primorye residents are attacked by poisonous snakes

In America and Europe, the Amur snake is called the Russian snake - it is an expressive representative of a rather significant genus Elaphe. Snake lovers often keep it at home in terrariums. It attracts with its unusual coloring, grace of movements, calmness, ease of maintenance and breeding.

Main characteristics of the Amur snake

The snake lives in northern and northeastern China, Korea and Mongolia. In Russia, it can be found in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories. In the west the range extends to Lesser Khingan, to Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the north.

Lives in any forests, meadows, but can also settle next to home buildings, in vegetable gardens, orchards. These snakes are not at all afraid of humans.

Color

Color of an adult Amur snake rather resembles the color of exotic snakes:

• the upper part of the body is dark brown or black;
• There are very bright yellow stripes along the sides of the snake;
• the belly is yellow and often with black spots.

The head is usually all black, and the lip brushes have black or yellow stripes. There are also black stripes from the mouth to the eyes. Sometimes in nature you can meet a completely black snake.

This color of the snake is considered protective. So, thanks to its bright coloring, predators cannot perceive it as one whole. When he moves deftly, all these bright stripes quickly flash and the enemy is lost.

The color of young animals differs from adults:

• the upper part of the body is brown, with transverse stripes of a darker color;
• all stripes along the contour are black and separated from the adjacent strip by a thin white section;
• on the head there is an interesting pattern of dark and lighter stripes.

This color of the young allows them to perfectly camouflage themselves from potential enemies on the ground and in the crowns of various trees.

Character traits

These snakes are quite large and massive, can reach a length of 3 meters. But even these parameters do not prevent him from quickly and deftly escaping from the enemy. It happens that he is unexpectedly noticed, then he begins to hiss strongly, can rush at the enemy and even bite him.

Like all snakes, the Amur snake is not poisonous. However, its jaws are very sharp and if it bites a person, the sensation will be unpleasant and painful. In captivity, he very soon gets used to people and stops attacking and biting.

Amur snake in the wild

The Amur snake has excellent contact with humans and lives next to them, but its main habitat is wild nature, in which it lives, gets food and reproduces.

Lifestyle

These runners lead active life only during the day. They are very mobile, crawl well and move excellently through trees and are able to climb to a height of 10 meters. In addition, they dive and swim excellently.

A long distance is not a barrier for them, but no matter how far they crawl, they always return to their place of residence. So, according to the results of the experiment It was found that the Amur snake is capable of covering 8 km per day.

Throughout their lives, snakes move around a certain territory, the boundaries of which they set themselves. Only in some cases do they leave their places when they go in search of a mate or crawl away to spend the winter.

Snakes hide in the ruins of stumps, in hollows, cracks between stones, in nests and burrows of other animals. If they prefer life next to a person, then they spend the winter in a pile of garbage. They winter in groups, so one group can contain up to 30 snakes. The duration of the hibernation period depends on the weather, and especially on the air temperature.

Nutrition

The Amur snake is a predator. Its diet includes both small prey - invertebrates, and larger ones - birds, frogs, lizards, mice. A larger representative is capable of eating a rat or even a hare.

As a rule, it strangles large prey, but swallows small ones whole. But it also willingly feasts on the laid eggs of birds, and does not regurgitate the shells, like most snakes. The snake's esophagus is designed in such a way that it allows the shell to be ground.

Amur snakes are often kept as pets in China. There these snakes help with household chores. But sometimes, snakes in search of food, crawl into home areas and behave like robbers. They eat poultry and their eggs.

Reproduction

In early spring, adults are found in the same place every year. Males seek the females’ favor in every possible way and are almost always with her. The main ritual of courtship is the male stroking his chosen one with his head. When the mating season ends, all the males crawl away, but the females remain to bear future offspring. During this period, they are completely relaxed and resting. Usually they gather in this area not only female snakes, but also representatives of other snakes.

In mid-July, females lay eggs with a diameter of 2 cm and a length of 5 cm. The number of eggs in one clutch is 10–30. Large females lay more eggs. The clutch is formed in a loose substrate, in a hollow or moss, in rotten leaves. It happens that females create collective clutches. In such a common nest there can be up to 110 eggs.

The eggs hatch into large babies, often their length reaches 30 cm. The food of children is more varied than that of adult Amur snakes. They eat chicks, young rodents, and shrews. Due to frost (it is difficult to find frost-free shelter), most of the young animals die in their first winter.

Puberty occurs after 3 years. Life expectancy in the wild is 11 years.

Amur snake at home

The Amur snake is not uncommon in home terrariums. This is what most people choose for home breeding. Sometimes he inhabits home sites. Often people are not against such a neighborhood, since it copes well with the functions of a cat . These snakes do well in captivity adapt to humans, take food from hands and are even capable of reproduction.

Home terrarium

• at night - 25 degrees;
• during the day – 32 degrees.

A ditch with water is also a required element. The snake will swim in it and just lie down during molting. Shelters can be purchased in different types and shapes (houses, caves, shelves). In order for the snake to burrow, a ditch with sphagnum is needed. It is better to place it in a warm place in any shelter. The terrarium can also accommodate various snags, branches along which the house snake will crawl.

Soil for the terrarium is optional, but if such a desire arises, you can use coarse sand, coconut shavings, gravel, or simply lay filtered paper on the bottom. Sphagnum moss must be constantly moist, so the terrarium is sprayed once a day. To keep two or several individuals, the terrarium should be enlarged.

Feeding

At home Amur snake fed on mice, hamsters, quails, rats, chickens. Young animals will like small mice.

Feed the pet once every 4–5 days. The water needs to be changed regularly, as they drink very often. Mineral supplements are also necessary. They can be obtained from ordinary egg shells. Vitamins are added to the feed once every 30 days. All feedings are given only according to instructions. For good digestion of the snake, you can add Borjomi mineral water to the drinking bowl.

Breeding

Start breeding snakes maybe after winter. During this period, it is necessary to give medications that contain vitamin E, the course is 2-3 weeks. Then the males and females are united together. Copulation time is 3 hours.

After 45 days, females lay eggs. For eggs, you should prepare a special container with sphagnum moss in advance. The entire clutch is placed in an incubator, where a constant temperature is maintained from 27 to 29 degrees. One such clutch can contain up to 30 eggs. After 50–55 days, babies appear.

Daily and seasonal rhythms

The Amur snake is active from spring to autumn, so the daylight hours should be 12 hours. Almost the entire day is irradiated with an ultraviolet lamp. . When exposed to lamp, the runner should be in a drier place.

The snake goes into a dormant state in winter. Therefore, over the course of 20 days, daylight hours and heating should be gradually reduced. When the shortening of the day reaches 8 hours, the night heating is turned off and feeding of the pet is stopped. If the day is reduced to 4 hours, then daytime heating is also not needed. During the hibernation period, the runner is placed in a well-ventilated place with sawdust. Wintering of the pet should take place at a temperature no higher than 15 degrees.

Soil during wintering sprayed to maintain moisture. This time lasts about two months. It is also necessary to bring the snake out of hibernation gradually, increasing daylight hours and increasing heating. When the eight-hour day is reached, the night heating is turned on and the Amur snake begins to be fed.

The Far Eastern or Amur snake is one of the most beautiful snakes on our planet. It is these snakes that are often filmed in documentaries and feature films, decorated with photographs scientific and popular magazines are with them.

Strictly speaking, snake is the name of various types of snakes. All of them belong to the family Colubridae, to the genera big-eyed snakes, scaly-fronted snakes, climbing snakes, slender snakes, hyerophys, Zamenis, Dolichophis, and others.

Let's look at some types of runners. Let's start with representatives of the genus Dolichophis.

Genus Dolichophis

Yellow-bellied Snake

The yellow-bellied snake, also called the Caspian snake, is a fairly large snake, but it is known not for its size, but for its aggressive behavior. The yellow-bellied snake can attack a person and bite until they bleed, but it is worth remembering that the bite of these snakes is not poisonous.

This species of snake is one of the largest European species. There were specimens two and a half meters long, although usually a large snake does not exceed two meters in length. Representatives of the population of this species, living on the islands of the Aegean Sea, are smaller than their continental relatives and do not exceed a meter. Male yellow-bellied snakes are longer than females.

The head of the Caspian snake is small, slightly separated from the body. The muzzle is rounded, the eyes are slightly convex with a round pupil. There are yellow circles around the eyes. The color of the upper body of an adult snake can be yellowish-brown, reddish or cherry-red, olive-brown. Individuals with an almost black color are rarely found. The scales of this species of snake are very smooth.

The Caspian snake belongs to the genus Dolichophis (Latin), to which our next “guest” also belongs.

Red-bellied Snake

The red-bellied snake is a species of the genus Dolichophis. Until recently, these snakes were not identified as a separate species, but were classified as a subspecies of the Caspian snake. It differs from the latter species in some color features, primarily in its reddish belly.

The red-bellied snake lives in the Caucasus, Turkey, and northern Iran; it is also fashionable to meet it in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan.

This species of snake lives in a wide variety of places. It can be found along the coast of valley rivers with dense coastal vegetation, in juniper forests and orchards, on xerophytic mountain slopes at an altitude of 1000-1500 m above sea level.

The red-bellied snake is active during the daytime. After hibernation, it wakes up in March. The mating period lasts from mid-April to mid-May; from mid-June to early July, the female lays 6 to 11 eggs. Young snakes are born in September and immediately reach approximately 33 centimeters in length.

The main prey of this type of snake is lizards; it can also hunt small birds, rodents, and other species of snakes. It tries to hide from enemies in rodent burrows; if the snake is unable to hide, it actively defends itself, making throws towards the enemy and trying to bite him. These attacks are accompanied by a loud hissing sound.

The next species in this genus is Dolichophis jugularis.

Dolichophis jugularis

This species is common in the territories of Southern Europe and the Middle East, namely in Albania, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, the islands of the Aegean Sea, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan.

Representatives of this species can reach 2.5 meters in length, but usually an adult is 1.5 meters long. The color of the species is brown or black with a yellowish tint. Adult representatives of this species have faint lines along the back. Young snakes have short transverse stripes on their backs.

It feeds on lizards and small mammals. It is mainly found on the ground, but also crawls well in trees. It is found in dry places, in fields or on hillsides at altitudes up to 2000 meters above sea level.

Genus climbing snakes

Now representatives of this genus are very widespread: in North and Central America, Southern and Central Europe, and Asia.

Let's look at some species from this genus.

The island snake is found only in Japan and the island of Kunashir. Representatives of the species reach a body length of up to 1.3 meters.

This species settles on the seashore, among stones or surf debris, and can also be found in bamboo thickets or the litter of coniferous forests. This species swims well in both fresh and sea water.

It hunts birds and small mammals; due to hunger, it can also attack Far Eastern frogs. The victim is strangled by wrapping rings around her body and squeezing her, like a boa constrictor.

The most serious enemy of the island snake is the European mink, which was artificially introduced into Kunashir in 1985. Also, active construction leads to a reduction in the species’ natural habitats.

A species of snakes up to 80 centimeters long, lives in the south of the Far East, the northern border of the range reaches approximately Khabarovsk and in the northwest to the Burei and Zeya rivers.

It is found along overgrown banks of rivers and standing reservoirs. It swims and dives well, which is reminiscent of a snake. This species is absolutely harmless to humans.

The species is ovoviviparous; the female gives birth to 8 to 20 cubs up to 20 centimeters long at the end of September.

Patterned snake - this species lives in the vast expanses of Asia. It can be found in Mongolia, Korea, northern China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia, Transcaucasia and further to the northern part of Iran.

The patterned runner reaches a length of one and a half meters. The peculiarity of this species is its very variable coloration. There are monochromatic individuals (melanists), which were previously distinguished into separate subspecies. But as a result of research, it was proven that such color variants are only variants of population variability within the boundaries of one species.

It lives in a variety of conditions, it can be found in deserts, steppes, coniferous or mixed forests, juniper woodlands, orchards and vineyards, river valleys, swampy areas, rice fields, and so on. Swims and dives well, climbs tree branches.

The patterned snake's diet is quite varied; it can eat insects, fish, amphibians and other snakes, not to mention small mammals. This species has known cases of cannibalism, in which the victim is swallowed from the head.

In general, the patterned snake is a special forces species in the genus “climbing snakes.”

At the same time, the patterned snake itself can become prey for small predatory mammals, and it can also be eaten by birds (in particular, the steppe eagle). The snake tries to hide from the enemy in a shelter.

In the photo: Anastasia Poklontseva, an employee of the Institute of Ecology of the Volga Basin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a snake nursery with her pet - a patterned snake.

The length of representatives of this species does not exceed 150 centimeters. The head is slightly elongated, the body is slender, and the tail is short. Among the representatives of the species there are melanists, that is, darkly colored individuals. There are 4 distinct dark stripes on the sides of the body, but they are absent in melanists. The belly is olive or pink, in melanists it is dark gray with a metallic sheen. Young snakes of this species have a brown color and a clear contrasting pattern that disappears with age. The iris of the eyes is dark red, while in melanists it is black.

The small-scaled climbing snake lives on the Japanese islands and on the island of Kunashir. It can settle in a wide variety of places: on the seashore, in thickets of bamboo, on the slope of a volcano, near geothermal springs, and so on.

It feeds mainly on frogs and snakes, including an individual of its own species, and sometimes preys on small rodents or birds.

The four-banded climbing runner is a fairly large species of runner and can reach 260 centimeters in length. The species lives in the northern and eastern Mediterranean, the steppes of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia and Iran.

It feeds on rodents, can eat a young hare, and if you are lucky, it feeds on birds. Juveniles feed on lizards. Easily moves in tree branches in search of bird nests.

It poses no danger to humans and is trying to avoid a meeting. But if she is caught by surprise, she behaves very aggressively, makes sharp lunges towards a potential enemy, trying to bite, and at the same time hisses loudly. The eastern subspecies of this species is the most aggressive.

The Amur snake is one of the most spectacular species of snakes living in Russia.

The back color of adult individuals is dark brown or completely black, often with a bluish iridescent sheen. Against this background, there are rare narrow, oblique, forked stripes of white or yellow color on the sides. The ventral side of this species of snake is yellow, often with dark spots. There are completely black individuals of this species.

The Amur snake lives in a wide variety of natural zones, from steppes to mixed forests. Found in the Far East, Mongolia and Northern China and Korea.

The Amur snake preys on mice, small rats, can catch a bird, destroy a bird's nest and eat eggs. There are known cases when the Amur snake made its way into the chicken coop and ate chicken eggs. Small snakes also eat shrews and mollusks.

These snakes do not shy away from people; they can live in gardens, vegetable gardens and attics of residential buildings.

This is not a conflict snake and in case of danger it tries to escape, but when driven into a corner, like other types of snakes, it hisses loudly and attacks. An adult large snake can bite seriously.

This snake gets used to people, eats from hands and reproduces in captivity.

Genus Lepidoptera snakes

Representatives of this genus, up to 160 cm long, live in North Africa and Asia from the Arabian Peninsula in the west to Pakistan and northern India in the east. The range of the genus covers Central Asia and the south of Kazakhstan, where one species of this genus is widespread - the scaly-fronted (or striped) snake, common in the Karakum Desert.

Genus hyerophys

This genus includes 3 species.

Usually the length of the Balkan snake reaches one meter, rarely 1.3 meters. The color of the snake is olive-brown with dark spots, especially visible in the front part of the body.

The Balkan snake is common in northeastern Italy, Greece, and on the eastern coast of the Adriatic (Albania, Croatia, Montenegro).

It lives in dry rocky places, feeds mainly on lizards and large insects, and less often on small mammals and birds.

Striped snake

The striped snake lives from South-Eastern Kazakhstan to Korea and Southern Primorye. It is also found in China and Mongolia. There were several sightings of this species near Khabarovsk, but they are considered an accidental introduction.

It can live in a variety of places: from deserts to sea coasts. Like many species of snakes, it feeds mainly on lizards. The striped snake is included in the Red Books of Russia and Kazakhstan.

The yellow-green snake is a fairly large species and can reach a length of 2.2 meters, although the average adult size is 1 meter. It lives in northeastern Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and also on the island of Malta.

The color of this species corresponds to its name; it is green or yellow with dark transverse stripes on the back and sides. These stripes are wide and uneven, and on the tail they already have the appearance of intermittent, torn ribbons. In some areas of Italy (particularly Sicily), limited populations of completely black individuals live.

The species prefers dry places to live. The diet of the yellow-green snake is practically no different from the diet of other species of snakes.

VLADIVOSTOK, August 27 – RIA Novosti. Conflicts between snakes and humans in Primorye became more frequent in the second half of summer: three residents of the region went to the hospital the day before with bites from poisonous reptiles. Reptiles are found on wild beaches, cottages, forests and even in residential areas. A doctor and a snake catcher told RIA Novosti how serious this problem is for the region and what to do to avoid a snake attack.

Cottonmouth is dangerous for children

This summer, the toxicology department received quite a lot of people bitten by snakes; just the day before, three people were immediately admitted to the hospital, all with copperhead bites, Rodion Grishin, a clinical resident at the acute poisoning department of Vladivostok Clinical Hospital No. 2, told RIA Novosti.

“It is this poisonous snake that most often bites Primorye residents. People are bitten by a viper less often. Serious consequences from attacks by these snakes occur mainly in children. A large dosage of poison for a small body weight, in the worst case, can lead to gangrene of the limb. However, such consequences are very rare,” - said the agency's interlocutor.

According to him, in case of a snake bite, you should immediately consult a doctor, and on the way to the hospital, you should apply a tourniquet above the bite site to prevent the spread of poison in the blood. You should also try to suck out the poison and, if possible, inject the area with an anesthetic and vasoconstrictor.

Not many snakes this year

This year there are not many snakes, but every year vacationers in nature make the same mistakes when meeting a reptile - they go into the forest in open shoes and pick up snakes - so the number of people admitted to the hospital does not decrease, Viktor, a well-known snake catcher in the region, told RIA Novosti Litvintsev.

“Since the beginning of the season, rescuers have received less than 100 calls; for comparison, in 2010 and 2011 there were over 250 calls during the season. This year’s spring is cold, and there were few really hot days in the summer. So snakes are rare, the situation cannot be called At the same time, the peak of snake activity in the region this year occurred at the beginning of August,” the source said.

According to him, snakes are most often found in the south of the region, however, encountering them in other areas is not excluded. They live in the forest, in the country, on the beaches. Snakes often crawl into residential areas.

“In total, 10 species of snakes live in Primorye. Among them is the rather dangerous Sakhalin viper, which lives in the north of the region. Three types of copperhead vipers are also poisonous: rocky, eastern and Ussuri. The painful consequences of the bite of these snakes go away in three to five weeks,” said Litvintsev.

He noted that he considers the mainland tiger snake to be the most dangerous snake in the region. It has a black and green striped back and a reddish forepart. This snake has two teeth with poison in its throat, and its bite is fatal in almost 100% of cases. However, it is quite rare.

Against snakes - boots and mop

Zmeelov clarified that there are also non-venomous, but aggressive snakes in the region, whose bite is very painful. In order not to get hurt when encountering a snake, in the forest you need to wear rubber boots with thick soles, but you do not need to tuck your trousers into your shoes.

“The snake will not attack a person first, and if you step on it by accident, your boots will protect you. The common snake in Primorye can rise to a third of its length—20 centimeters—to strike, but this height is not enough to reach the unprotected part bodies," the source said.

According to him, you should never pick up a snake. In case of urgent need, for example, when she has crawled into the house, you can pick her up with a long object - a mop, a broom, and take her outside. But it’s better not to risk it and immediately call specialists by calling any on-duty service.

Primorye is the only place on Earth where glaciers have not reached, so here you can find relict plants that existed before the Ice Age. The same goes for its fauna. This region is unusually rich, it has everything: the ocean and mountains, minerals and medicinal plants, fast rivers and clear lakes full of fish, legendary caves and a huge green expanse of taiga, in which the Ussuri tiger and black bear coexist.

It is surprising that in such abundance the snakes of the Primorsky Territory are represented by only a few species, 3 of which are poisonous.

Primorsky Krai

Unfortunately, the modern city dweller is completely unsuited to life in nature, which he visits either at barbecues or while on vacation. Often people cannot simply distinguish a poplar from a birch.

By and large, each of us should know what the eyes see, feel and understand smells, follow a bird with our gaze, knowing its habits and habitats. But alas, general illiteracy and lack of basic curiosity separated people and nature forever.

And knowing, for example, what kind of snakes are found in the Primorsky Territory is important if you go to the forest for a picnic, otherwise it could end badly. These places are home to about a dozen reptiles, of which a person should avoid three - the Sakhalin viper, the oriental viper and the rocky viper.

There is one type of conditionally poisonous snake. Such reptiles do not pose a threat to life, but they can cause a lot of unpleasant sensations, therefore, when going into the forest, it is better to worry in advance about both a first aid kit with an antidote and knowledge about what dangerous snakes of the Primorsky Territory look like.

Eastern Cottonmouth

It is difficult to confuse this snake with any other, since it has a characteristic color in the form of black circles on the sides of the body, which connect along the back. The eastern cottonmouth has stripes from its mouth to its eyes, giving it a smiling appearance, but it is better not to trust it.

These snakes in the Primorsky Territory prefer damp places and bodies of water, as they are excellent swimmers and dive well. They can be found in water meadows, swamps and forests. There have been cases when, during migration, eastern cottonmouths swam across rivers and even small sea bays.

They have to overcome such dangers every year, as they look for suitable places for wintering. These snakes in the Primorsky Territory, like many others, prefer to sleep underground or in a shelter that does not freeze and is not subject to flooding by melt water, so they have to look for suitable caves or crevices in the mountains. Sometimes up to 2000 individuals gather in one place.

Quite often, the wintering place becomes the burrows of rodents located somewhere on a hill, whose hosts have been previously eaten by the copperheads.

These snakes feed not only on birds and mammals, but also on fish, frogs, and amphibians. The eastern copperhead uses venom in the same way as other poisonous snakes of the Primorsky Territory. They do not attack people, and try in every possible way to avoid them, so if you come across an eastern cottonmouth, just wait until it crawls by. A snake can be only 5-10 cm from a person’s leg and calmly crawl away if it feels that nothing threatens it.

Rocky Cottonmouth

The poisonous snakes of the Primorsky Territory are designed in such a way that with their color they seem to warn a person: “Don’t come closer, I’m dangerous!” So the stony muzzle is the owner of bright brown stripes, which are separated by light inserts.

The venom of these snakes, like that of others, causes 2 stages of deterioration in the bitten person:

• firstly, it is a powerful hemotoxin, which provokes thrombosis and hemorrhage;
• secondly, it is a neurotoxin that causes paralysis of the respiratory tract and the victim simply suffocates if he has not previously died from extensive necrosis.

The stony muzzle is most common in the mountains, namely in forest stone screes in the Ussuriysky, Lazovsky and Sikhote-Alinsky nature reserves. Often different species of snakes in the Primorsky Territory spend the winter in one place. This can be a deep depression or crevice at a depth of up to 4 meters, into which reptiles rush from all sides. In one such pit there are snakes, various species of copperheads, vipers, and grass snakes. They emerge from hibernation in April-May.

Sakhalin viper

This beautiful and small snake of a dark gray or brownish hue with a beautiful zigzag pattern along the body may even seem cute, but it is included in the category “The most dangerous snakes in the Primorsky Territory.” The venom of this viper has hemolytic properties, and if a person or even a large animal, such as a horse, is bitten, death occurs within half an hour from the incoagulability of the blood and numerous hemorrhages in the internal organs.

The Sakhalin viper prefers to settle along the banks of rivers and lakes, but it can be found in coastal rocks in the Sovetskaya Gavan area and on the border of the beach and forest, therefore, when relaxing on the river bank, for example, it is better not to walk barefoot in the thickets.

The snake never attacks first and avoids a person in every possible way, but if someone steps on it, it will, of course, respond with a bite. This snake feeds on lizards, small rodents and birds.

Tiger snake

There are conditionally poisonous snakes in the Primorsky Territory, whose bite will not kill a person or animal, but will cause a lot of unpleasant moments. The unusually beautiful brindle belongs to this category.

Its length of up to 1.1 meters already makes it noticeable, and in addition to this, the color of the snake's back varies from olive and greenish to sky blue with transverse black stripes or spots that give it a tiger-like appearance.

As this species of snake matures, it develops orange or reddish spots that further “color” its skin.

The bite of a tiger snake is not dangerous and you should be afraid of it if it turns its back to you. If threatened, it raises its torso and turns its neck towards the enemy, on which there are glands that produce a caustic, poisonous secretion that is fatal to small mammals.

If this substance gets into a person’s open wound, the consequences can be very unpredictable - from severe poisoning to death with a weak heart.

Japanese already

This inconspicuous small snake up to half a meter in length prefers to settle in cedar-deciduous and small-leaved forests; less often it can be found in meadows, near berry bushes. It will not be easy to notice it in the grass and foliage. The skin color of the Japanese snake varies from a greenish tint to dark brown and chocolate.

It can be identified by a yellow stripe running from the mouth to the eyes. The snake's belly is olive or yellow. To find her, you will have to try hard, not only is she an excellent camouflage artist, but she also chooses the most secluded places to live - rotten stumps, fallen trees, stones.

The snake feeds mainly on earthworms, small frogs and mollusks. It is distinguished from the closest similar species of snakes by the absence of a pattern on the skin.

Amur snake

This snake can easily be called a movie star, since it is the Amur snake that replaces its dangerous and poisonous relatives in films of various categories. Its black color, which is interrupted by bright yellow stripes, gives it an exotic look, which is what directors take advantage of when filming the next scene with snakes attacking people.

Usually reptiles have a color that helps them blend into their surroundings, but the Amur snake with its bright stripes is unlikely to succeed, so many are surprised why it needs such an “extravagant outfit.”

In fact, this is his defense, since his enemies' eyes do not perceive his body as a single whole precisely because of these yellow broken lines that bend when the snake crawls. This gives her the advantage and time to escape.

The Amur snake is not at all afraid of people, and although its habitat is forests and meadows, it often settles in vegetable gardens and near houses, which greatly helps their inhabitants. Even cats are not as good at dealing with mice and small rodents as these snakes.

They define their habitat and leave it only if they are looking for a mate or a better place for wintering, but they always return to their territory after hibernation.

Patterned runner

A variety of these snakes in many countries is included in the category of pets and pets. And this is not surprising. The patterned snake quickly gets used to people and eats from hands, and its smooth skin, unlike other snakes, is very pleasant to the touch. They live in gardens and vineyards, climb trees beautifully, swim and dive.

Their color varies from a grayish back with black spots to a light gray and yellow shade with brownish spots. In the wild, they prefer mountain slopes, the edges of swamps, floodplains and alpine meadows.

They feed on everything they catch - from small mammals and birds to insects, fish and eggs. They first strangle their prey, as boa constrictors do, and swallow the eggs whole.

On average they live up to 9-10 years. These are the most frequently encountered snakes in the border region of Primorsky Krai.

Red-backed snake

This small snake is called so because on its olive-colored back, reddish spots with a border are “lined” in 4 rows. The red-backed snake loves water and always settles near water bodies or in very damp lowlands and swamps. It hunts in the water, feeding mainly on small fish, frogs, and when lucky, birds and small rodents.

The surprising thing about this snake is that it is a viviparous reptile, which is rare. Small snakes appear in a shell resembling an egg, which they immediately tear open and begin to hunt. The young feed on earthworms and insects.

Safety rules

If you are going outside and have little knowledge of the natural world around you, then the best advice in such a situation is to be vigilant and careful. If you see a yellow snake crawling in the grass (the inhabitants of the Primorye Territory can have completely different, sometimes even exotic colors), you should not scream or hit it with a stick.

Snakes are afraid and avoid people, and if a chance encounter does occur, you should let them crawl on their way.