Snake anglers

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • SNAKE • FISHING

Stanislav Shinkarenko writes: "In the November issue of National Geographic published my article about water Uzhakhov. Unfortunately, the format of the column "Facts" is not allowed to publish a lot of text and photos, so will post the material completely in the blog. "

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- What are you, a viper take pictures - I heard a voice behind him - See that no bitten.

- No, not a viper, and the snake, - I replied, not looking up from the camera viewfinder and shooting another close-up.

- Yes viper now crossed with uzhami: Receives and black, and gray, and in the box, and all the terribly poisonous!

 3. About this dialogue happens every time someone sees how I catch or photograph water snakes (Natrix tessellate).

 4. The notoriety of these snakes is only the fruit of fear of people who are not familiar with reptiles. Water snakes lack the characteristic trait non-poisonous snakes, familiar to everyone - yellow-orange spots at the back of the head, which have common grass snake (Natrix matrix). For this reason, people are unaware of all the snakes without such spots belong to the vipers and are considered poisonous and dangerous. Many divide all limbless reptiles and snakes simply "snake", referring to the Vipers. And say, "And that's, or snake?".

 5. As soon as the water snakes are not called "hybrid viper and the snake", "chess viper", "checkerboard". With cries of "Chess Snake" on the beach bathing popping out of the water and wait for the snake swim away, or until there is a "brave" and not kill the snake with a stick. We often hear stories about anglers' meter vipers ", swimming across rivers or climbing into the cages with fish. All these stories are not really related to the Viper, they about water snakes. The specific name of the snake N. tessellate really translates from Latin as chess, but vipers water snake has no relation. It belongs to the genus alone (Matrix sp.) As Grass snake.

 6. For an individual water snake is harmless. Remedies of this snake - a loud hissing and stinking excrement allocated at risk. Unlike ordinary snake water almost never pretends to be dead.

 7. The main food of water snakes - fish, which they catch among aquatic plants, driftwood, or lying in wait, lying on the bottom. The snake can not swallow caught prey underwater, so rushes to the shore where the fish swallows the previously unfolded her head to him.

 8. If the prey is too large, the meal can last for hours or even longer. Some snakes are killed, not by calculating the force and to big fish.

 9. "Water already circulated quite widely, from the south-west of France, the river valley. Rhine in the west, the southern border of the area runs along the eastern part of North Africa (to the Persian Gulf, Pakistan), to the east occurs to the northwest of China, and northern limits of the occupied territory pass through the Volga-Kama Region », - says PhD, Fellow Volgograd State University herpetologist Dmitry Gordeev. "This species belongs to the class of reptiles (Reptilia), detachment of snakes (Serpentes), family Colubridae (Colubridae), genus Colubrid (Matrix) and mean water snake (Natrix tessellate). Water snake - a relatively large non-toxic, like all members of this family, the snake. And the females are usually longer than males and can grow up to 1.1 meters. Despite the impressive size, it is slightly smaller than we are used to, and easily identifiable ordinary snake, which can reach up to 1.14 m. Muzzle water snake, compared with the ordinary more pointed, and the sides of the head there is no yellow-orange spots. Because of the latter that it is often confused with such poisonous snakes as adder and steppe viper. "The oil on the fire" pattern on the back adds a water snake that remotely resembles a zigzag band of vipers. I have repeatedly come across dead snakes, which appear to the local population takes for toxic and mercilessly exterminate. In one of the expeditions I met a place of "mass executions" where counted 25 killed "chess vipers."

 10. However, the water snake has a number of external signs by which it can be easily distinguished from the poisonous vipers. The most recognizable head - in adders is triangular in shape and most of the flaps (flakes) on it are small, whereas in water it is oval adder, and all the shields large. If you have the courage to look into the eyes of the snake, you can see that the vipers, like a real predator pupil vertically (like a cat), and at the snake - the round. In addition, the viper snakes much smaller: the largest adder reaches a length of up to 0.73 m.

 11. The water snake inhabits near water: on the banks of rivers and irrigation canals, on flood plains, where is their livelihood. Despite the peaceful nature, he is an active predator. Prefer different kinds of fish - perch, roach, loach, can even hunt for pike. Therefore, the scientists call it Ichthyophagi. Catch prey snake pulls the shore where and eats. Much less in the diet includes frogs and tadpoles. In the literature there are reports about the discovery in the stomach even a baby adder! Dimensions victims may exceed the size of the head of the snake, and swallow it helps mobile connection mandible and some bones associated with them. Ingestion occurs alternately moving it left, then the right half of the mandible. From this it seems that the snake "crawls" on their prey.

 12. Active season lasts almost 9 months of winter shelters appear in April. Shortly thereafter starts pairing, then snakes abound. One female can lay 4 to 20 eggs, of which, in July, under favorable circumstances appear young. They serve as a refuge for the reeds, roots of trees, crevices substrate, rodent burrows, stumps and snags. Hibernation starts in late October in large groups, sometimes with ordinary snake. Prey on snakes urchins, muskrat, muskrat, fox, some birds, osprey, gray herons, kites, serpent eagle, crow, rook, and some others. "

 13. Every time I hear mention of the "scary poisonous checkerboard", I talk about water Uzhakhov, their way of life, I try to convince that these snakes are absolutely safe. But whenever faced with incomprehension, easier for people to be afraid of "chess viper" than admit their belief in the rumors and stop killing all the snakes, which lack "unmarked" ordinary snake.

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