At common viper the image of the character is firmly entrenched scary tales and nightmares, meeting with her can have unsafe consequences for a person. Meanwhile, in the lifestyle and behavior of this snake there are many noteworthy, interesting and even dramatic moments.

Description of the viper

The common viper (Vipera berus) is a representative of the Viperidae family of relatively small dimensions: the body length of the snake is usually 60-70 cm, the weight ranges from 50-180 g, while males are slightly smaller than females.

Appearance

  • Head, covered with small scales or irregularly shaped shields, has a rounded triangular shape, the nasal end with a hole cut in the middle is blunted, the temporal corners stand out noticeably to the sides - the zones of localization of paired poisonous glands.
  • small eyes with a strictly vertical pupil in combination with overhanging supraorbital ridges-scales give the viper an evil look, although this has nothing to do with the manifestation of emotions associated with aggression.
  • The maxillary bones are short, movable, equipped with 1-2 large tubular poisonous fangs and 3-4 small substitute teeth. The same small teeth are located on the palatine, pterygoid bones.
  • The head and torso are separated by a sharp cervical interception.
  • Very short and thick in the middle body viper narrows sharply towards the posterior section, turning into a short (usually 6-8 times less than the length of the body) blunt tail, which has the outlines of a comma.

Nature did not stint on colors, painting the viper. In addition to the main common gray color in males and brown in females, the following morphs are found:

  • black;
  • beige-yellow;
  • whitish silver;
  • olive brown;
  • copper red.

Most often, the coloring is non-uniform, the body of the snake is “decorated” with stripes, spots and patterns:

  • a zigzag strip running down the back;
  • dark Ʌ- or X-shaped ornament on the upper part of the head;
  • black stripes running along the sides of the head from the eyes to the corners of the mouth;
  • dark spots covering the sides of the body.

Black and red-brown vipers have no pattern on the head and body. Regardless of the main color, the underside of the body is dark gray or black with blurry spots, the lower part of the tail is whitish-sand or yellow-orange.

This is interesting! Albino vipers are never found, unlike other snake species, in which a similar color variation, or rather, the absence of one, is observed regularly.

Any kind of coloration of the viper, regardless of the main tone, is patronizing, as it makes the snakes almost invisible against the background of the natural landscape.

Lifestyle, behavior

The active phase of the life cycle of the common viper usually begins in March-April. First in sunny days males emerge from winter shelters. Most of them are found when air masses warm up to 19-24 ° C. Females, for which the optimum environmental temperature should be higher, about 28 ° C, wait for the onset of warmer weather.

The structure of the body, devoid of limbs and appendages, does not allow the common viper to somehow diversify its behavior: sedentary, slow and phlegmatic, the snake spends most of the daylight hours in secluded places or “taking” sunbaths on well-heated stones, stumps, fallen trees. However, an attentive observer will notice that even a viper can lie in different ways.. Relaxingly basking in the rays of the sun, she spreads her ribs to the sides, due to which the body becomes flat, forming a wide undulating surface. But if at this time something alerted the snake, its body immediately, without changing its position, becomes tense and tight, like a compressed spring.

This is interesting! At any moment, the snake is ready to either slip away from potential danger, or pounce on possible prey.

If a meeting with the enemy could not be avoided, the viper instantly twists into a tight spiral, now its body is a dense lump, from the center of which a head is visible on the S-shaped bend of the neck. Sharply throwing forward the upper third of the body, bloating and hissing intimidatingly, the snake moves with all this tangle towards the source of the threat.

The viper starts active hunting at dusk or at night. At the same time, its usual daytime behavior dramatically changes: now it is a swift and agile animal, tirelessly examining any holes, manholes, areas under tree trunks lying on the ground, dense thickets in search of prey. It helps her to find food in the dark with an excellent sense of smell and good overall vision. Penetrating into the dwellings of rodents, the viper is able to eat not only helpless cubs, but also sleeping adults.

The viper also uses a wait-and-see tactic of hunting, carefully observing potential prey that has appeared in its field of vision. Sometimes a careless vole mouse can even climb onto a lying snake, which remains completely motionless until the rodent is within reach of the poisonous fangs. If the snake misses its throw, it usually does not pursue the lost prey, patiently waiting for a new opportunity to attack. It usually takes two to four days to digest food. All this time, the snake may not crawl out to the surface at all, remaining in its shelter.

Not hunting, the viper does not show aggression first. Therefore, when meeting with a person, if he does not take provocative actions, the snake uses its camouflage coloration, visually merging with the environment, or tends to slip away to a safe place.

Long before the onset of frost, vipers settle down in winter "apartments". A cold snap never takes these snakes by surprise, and until the onset of spring (unlike many other cold-blooded snakes that freeze en masse in cold winters), almost all individuals of the population survive. There are several rational (and not entirely) explanations for this.

  • As shelters, they choose burrows of rodents, moles, located below the freezing layer, at a depth of 0.4 to 2 m.
  • For wintering in one place, vipers quite often gather several dozen, when, having huddled in a huge ball, they additionally heat each other.
  • Vipers are somehow very good at predicting the onset of even temporary cold weather.

In winter hibernation, approximately 180 days pass, and in early spring When snow still lies somewhere in the forest, vipers crawl out again onto the sun-warmed earth.

Lifespan

The maximum lifespan of the common viper in wild nature- 12-15 years old. This is a lot for existence in conditions where there are a large number of factors that reduce. In specialized nurseries, serpentaria, when kept in home terrariums, vipers live much longer, reaching 20-, and in some cases even 30-year-olds. This is explained by the fact that slave snakes, unlike free relatives, are provided with timely feeding, constant maintenance of a favorable microclimate, complete absence enemies and even veterinary care.

This is interesting! Herpetologists believe that the lifespan of Vipera berus is inversely proportional to the frequency of mating, thus reaching 30 years in individuals belonging to northern populations.

Common viper venom

Viper venom is a mixture of high-molecular protein compounds that have a hemolytic and necrotizing effect on blood components. In addition, the poison contains a neurotoxin that negatively affects cardiovascular system. However, the bite of an ordinary viper is extremely rarely fatal: the damaging components are too low in concentration to pose a danger to the life of an adult. More serious are the consequences of a viper bite for children and pets that accidentally disturb a snake that is forced to defend itself. The forecast may include:

  • progressive shock;
  • intravascular coagulation;
  • acute anemia.

In any case, the victim, even after providing him with first aid, should contact a medical institution.

On the other hand, the toxic properties of the poison are widely used for medical purposes, in the production of a number of analgesic, absorbable, anti-inflammatory drugs, and cosmetics, which makes it possible to consider the common viper as an object of economic and scientific importance.

Range, habitats

The species Vipera berus has a fairly wide distribution. Its representatives are found throughout the northern part of Eurasia, from Sakhalin, northern Korea, northeast China to Spain and northern Portugal. In Russia, the prevalence of the common viper covers the entire Middle zone from the Arctic to the steppe zone in the south. But the distribution of populations over these territories is uneven:

  • the average population density is no more than 0.15 individuals / 1 km of the route in areas with unfavorable conditions;
  • where the habitat conditions for snakes are most suitable, "foci" are formed with a density of 3.5 individuals / 1 km of the route.

In such regions, vipers choose the outskirts of moss swamps, forest clearings, overgrown burnt areas, glades of mixed and coniferous massifs, banks of rivers and reservoirs as places of localization. Above sea level, the common viper is distributed up to 3000 m.

Usually in Vipera berus sedentary life, representatives of the species rarely move further than 100 m, and only during migrations in spring and autumn are they able to cover distances of up to 5 km, sometimes crossing quite wide water spaces. Vipers can also be found in anthropogenic landscapes: forest parks, basements of country and rural houses, abandoned buildings, vegetable gardens and farmland.

The diet of the common viper

The traditional "menu" of the common viper consists mainly of warm-blooded animals: moles, shrews, mice, small birds. But she does not neglect frogs, lizards, even manifestations of cannibalism occur when the snake eats its own brood. Vipera berus is rather gluttonous: at one time it is able to swallow 3-4 frogs or mice. At the same time, without any harm to themselves, representatives of the species go without food for 6-9 months. This ability is biologically determined:

  • in winter, snakes fall into a stupor, and during this period, fat deposited over the summer helps them maintain the necessary life processes;
  • snakes are forced to starve when, with a long consumption of the same type of food, the food supply is depleted.

Snakes mainly get water with food, but sometimes they drink dew or raindrops.

Life expectancy can reach 15, and according to some data, even 30 years. However, observations in Sweden show that snakes rarely survive two or more three years reproduction, which, taking into account the achievement of puberty, gives an age limit of 5-7 years

An elongated oval body, devoid of limbs and any outgrowths, does not allow her to diversify her behavior (as, indeed, to other snakes); however, there are many noteworthy elements in her everyday activities (apart from dramatic mating tournaments or brutal hunting scenes). Even a viper can lie in its favorite place in different ways. Basking in the sun, it is located in wide free waves, while spreading the ribs to the sides, due to this the body becomes flat, like a belt, and more sunlight falls on it. In the same way, she lies on a stone that has warmed up during the day, trying to absorb all its warmth. But if the viper is alerted by something, its body becomes tight and tense, its curves resemble a compressed spring, although the posture remains the same. The snake is ready at any moment to either quietly slip into a secluded place, or make a throw towards possible prey or an enemy. If she fails to crawl away from danger, she rapidly twists into a tight spiral; the whole body is collected in a dense lump, from the center of which the head rises on an S-shaped curved neck, the muzzle is always directed towards danger. Periodically, the snake abruptly throws forward the upper third of the body, usually not far away - only 10-15 centimeters, but with such energy that this whole ball also moves slightly towards the enemy. At the same time, the viper inflates the body and hisses frighteningly. A snake can lie in a tight ball and, being in a calm state, trying to keep its warmth in cool weather - it seems to wrap itself in own body. It is important to know that for all its relative (compared to other snakes) slowness, the common viper is a fairly swift and agile animal. There is a widespread misconception that a viper taken by the tail is not capable of biting the hand holding it. In fact, in such an unpleasant position for her, this snake can swing and bend the body very strongly, and sometimes she manages to get the offender. A viper planted in a bag can also bite through the fabric.

IN summer time sometimes basks in the sun, but mostly hides under old stumps, in crevices, etc. The snake is not aggressive and, when a person approaches, it tries to use its camouflage coloration as much as possible, or crawl away. Only in the event of an unexpected appearance of a person or with a provocation on his part, she can try to bite him. This cautious behavior is explained by the fact that it requires a lot of energy to reproduce the poison in conditions of changing temperatures.

Accumulations of snakes in any place are due not only to the most favorable conditions for them, but also to the natural need for communication. If vipers were evenly distributed throughout the territory suitable for their life, their population density would be so low that they would have to travel considerable distances to meet each other. The snakes living in the same "hearth" gather in the fall, going for the winter, and in the spring, when the mating season begins. In some places, clusters of females bearing offspring are also noted (Orlova, 1999).

Figure 6 - Vipers gathering for the winter

For the winter, vipers fall into a stupor (Orlova, 1999). They winter in the ground below the freezing layer, at a depth of 40 cm to 2 m, more often in the burrows of rodents, moles, in the passages of rotten tree roots, in the voids of peat bogs, under haystacks, in rock crevices, etc. (Figure 5). The temperature in wintering places does not fall below +2 ... + 4 ° C. More often, vipers hibernate singly or in small groups, however, winter accumulations of up to 200--300 snakes are known in suitable places. After wintering, it appears in March - April, sometimes in May. Males are the first to leave their winter quarters on warm sunny days, when there is still a lot of snow in the forest in some places. Leave for wintering in the second half of September - October. In spring, vipers keep in well-warmed places, using solar radiation and contact with warm soil, heated stones, fallen trees, stumps, etc. The optimum temperature for males is + 25 ° C, for females + 28 ° C. At temperatures above + 37 ° C in vipers, rigor mortis and death occur. (Bannikov, 1977).

Like most members of the family, the common viper often lies in wait for its prey. A snake resting in the sun is at the same time an alert predator. She is almost always ready to eat, obviously, the feeling of fullness is completely unfamiliar to her. When a potential prey appears in the field of view, the viper closely follows its every movement, remaining completely motionless and usually invisible to the victim. Only if necessary, the snake imperceptibly crawls closer to her. It happens that a careless mouse even climbs a lying viper, to which a cold-blooded predator does not react in any way until the animal is within reach of its poisonous teeth. It happens that a snake misses in a throw (by the way, this happens more often with a viper than with other snakes), but it usually does not pursue frightened prey, but it can patiently wait until the animal calms down and introduces itself to it new opportunity to attack.

The viper poisoned by her victim is easily detected by the scent trail and swallows slowly. Your usual prey - small mammals- The viper always swallows from the head. This process is rather slow; alternately "intercepting" the carcass with the left and right halves of the jaws, the snake still periodically takes the lower jaw to the side in order to inhale some air. When the prey is already partially in the esophagus, the trunk muscles begin to work: by sharp bending of the snake's body, it helps to draw and squeeze the prey into the stomach. Before swallowing, and especially after, you can see how the viper opens its mouth wide and twitches the halves of the jaws, as if yawning. Thus, she puts her jaw apparatus in order (the jaw bones take their original position, the tension of the jaw muscles subsides), since when swallowing an animal that is several times larger than her own head, the jaws are monstrously stretched.

After a meal, the viper rubs its muzzle against the ground and surrounding objects, cleaning off adhering motes from its mouth. Then returns to former place where it digests food and waits for a new victim. At one time, a snake can swallow three or four mice or frogs, but in nature it rarely succeeds, because after the first “portion” it becomes less mobile.

The viper may be more actively looking for prey. She goes hunting at dusk or at night, while examining holes, cracks, spaces under objects lying on the ground and dense thickets. A well-developed sense of smell and, to some extent, vision help her to find her food in the dark. In rodent burrows, she often eats helpless cubs or adult animals sleeping there. The smell of the prey plays such an important role for the viper that it can even be “deceived” (which is done when feeding these snakes in captivity) by offering it a piece of raw meat with a mouse smell (worn with the skin of a mouse or with a drop of its urine). The viper will swallow it as if nothing had happened, although it will simply not eat raw meat.

Vipers digest their prey for two - four days. At this time, they may not crawl out to the surface at all, remaining in their shelters - rodent burrows, passages in rotting deadwood, under the trunks of fallen trees.

Animals get the necessary water from food, but sometimes they lick off drops of dew or rain.

Common vipers can go without food for 6-9 months. The ability to starve has great biological meaning. First, snakes fall into a forced stupor for the long winter months (although for this they accumulate fat reserves during the summer). Secondly, under natural conditions, vipers often do not have enough food, especially where they consume exclusively the same type of food. For example, on some northern islands vipers live only at the expense of local populations of voles. However, the number of the latter drops sharply from time to time, and then the snakes simply have to starve (Orlova, 1999).

The viper feeds mainly on warm-blooded animals, namely: mice, moles, shrews and birds; however, it does not neglect lizards and other reptiles, it even devours its own children. The viper can endure prolonged starvation without harm, but on occasion it shows amazing voracity and can swallow, for example, 3 big mice one after the other (Bram, 1992).

Juveniles usually feed on insects, less often on mollusks and worms (Bannikov, 1977).

In nature, the enemies of vipers are birds of prey and mammals. The defensive posture is a tightly zigzag-curled body with a raised front. From this position, the hissing and periodically inflating viper makes throws towards the enemy. The caught snake secretes a liquid with a repulsive odor from the cloaca. (Dunaev, 1999)

There are not so many dangerous and poisonous animals in Russia. However, they are among them - the common viper. It is better to look at a photo of a poisonous beauty in order to know how she looks. And this is necessary in order to be able to distinguish it from the harmless snake, with which it is very similar.

Who has not heard of the existence of viper snakes? For some they are interesting, someone is afraid of them. It is easy to find out that the viper is a reptile of the Viper family and the genus Real vipers, belonging to the scaly order. But what is this snake? What features does she have?

The common viper is one of the few poisonous snakes living in the European part of Eurasia.

Appearance of a viper

Against the background of its relatives, the viper looks like a small snake: indeed, on average, this type of snake grows no more than seventy centimeters. The largest vipers are on the Scandinavian Peninsula - there their length reaches a meter. By the way, female vipers are often larger than males.

The head of the viper is quite large and flat. Special part body called cervical interception separates the head from the long torso of the viper. The pupils of this snake are vertical, it has a lot of shields and scales on its body, giving the viper a truly awesome look.


In the world you can find black, brown, brownish or gray snakes with a zigzag pattern. But not all vipers have stripes on their backs. In some areas you can see melanistic vipers - snakes with a body painted completely black.

Viper's habitat

The main danger of the viper is that it is quite possible to meet it in a mixed forest or near a river. In Russia, the viper lives in the European part, and in Siberia, and on Far East. This snake lives even in the mountains, at an altitude of about three kilometers above sea level.


Vipers are settled in their habitats quite unevenly: in some areas their number reaches one hundred individuals per hectare! True, this happens very rarely. In May, vipers wake up from hibernation and crawl out of their winter shelters. That's when you can suffer from their bites.

I wonder what the viper eats?

Obviously, the viper uses venom to kill prey. Who can she kill? Small rodents, or rather, voles and spindles. Vipers, being reptiles, eat, in fact, their relatives - small lizards and. Small chicks of warblers and buntings that have fallen out of the nest are a frequent prey for this species of snake.
Young vipers eat differently. It is difficult to call their prey and prey something - these are small bugs, caterpillars, ants. However, snakes that have not yet grown up are quite capable of eating even small insects.

viper breeding

In May, when the vipers have just woken up from their winter sleep, they have a breeding season. The viper is a viviparous snake, which is rare: in August-September, the cubs hatched in the womb are born. Small (about fifteen centimeters long) vipers usually hatch more than ten. Interestingly, sometimes a viper wraps around a tree trunk during childbirth, so that the tail with future snakes dangles in the air and the children fall to the ground. By the way, the cubs immediately molt and become independent (and already poisonous!). So do not think that small vipers are safe for human health and life.

Viper Features

A characteristic feature of vipers is a zigzag pattern on the back of a lighter (or contrasting) color. However, sometimes vipers do not have this distinctive pattern. This may be when the snake has melanism - the coloring of the entire body in black. In this case, the viper can be confused with some other snake.

But it is difficult to confuse a viper with a snake: the latter will be “given out” by the absence of yellow stripes on the head and a small body length (snakes can grow up to two meters, unlike a viper).


Enemies of the viper in nature

Despite the fact that the viper is poisonous and crawls fast enough, it has natural enemies that it cannot cope with. These include , etc. Oddly enough, the viper's venom, which acts on humans, has virtually no effect on these animals.

The viper has other dangerous enemies. These are birds. They are able to "attack" the viper from the air. The most dangerous birds for this type of snake are serpent eagles, as well as owls and storks.

Viper - benefit or harm to humans?


Already differs from the viper in small yellow "ears". Unlike its "twin", it is no longer poisonous. Although - it can also bite ...

Everyone knows that the viper is a very dangerous snake because it is poisonous. But not everyone knows that the viper will never bite just like that: it always defends itself, and does not attack, acting on the principle of " The best protection is an attack." In fact, the bite of a viper is rarely fatal, and the consequences of the bite - a small swelling and pain - disappear on their own after a few days. However, do not neglect the safety rules.

ASPER (Virepa berus) is a relatively small snake, and the total length of her body with a tail rarely exceeds 75 cm, usually it is not more than 60 cm; only in the north are known vipers up to 1 m long. The tail is 6-8 times shorter than the body. Females are somewhat larger than males. The viper's head is clearly delimited from the neck, and on its upper side, in addition to small scutes, there are three large ones (frontal and two parietal). The tip of the muzzle, when viewed from above, is rounded. The nasal opening is cut in the middle of the nasal shield. Around the middle of the body, as a rule, 21 scales (occasionally 19 or 23). From above, the body is gray, brownish or red-brown in color with a dark zigzag stripe along the ridge. There is an x-shaped pattern on the head.

A dark stripe runs from the eye to the corner of the mouth. Often there are black vipers, which are more in the north. It is very widely distributed: it lives in the North and Central Europe and North Asia, from England to Sakhalin and Korea. To the north rises to 68 ° N. sh.- in Europe and 61-63 ° with. sh. - in Siberia. In the south it reaches 40°N. sh. In the mountains it rises up to 3000 m above sea level. Inhabits forest and forest-steppe zone, preferring mixed forests with clearings and good herbage, forest edges, clearings, overgrown burnt areas, swamps, river and lake banks. It is often found in vegetable gardens, rarely settles in meadows, in dry pine forests and green moss spruce forests. Like most snakes of the northern and temperate latitudes, the common viper is located very unevenly over the territory, forming large clusters in suitable places - snake foci, but completely absent in large areas.

In the northern parts of the range, the placement of snake foci is determined by conditions suitable for wintering. In snake foci, the population density of vipers can reach 90 snakes per 1 ha, but more often there are no more than 3-8 vipers per 100 ha. Vipers, as a rule, are sedentary and live all their lives in the same place, moving within a radius of no more than 60-100 m. The area is usually inhabited by a pair of vipers. Only after wintering, taking summer places habitat, in some areas snakes move several hundred meters, and sometimes 2-5 km. During such migrations, vipers can swim quite wide rivers and lakes.

Migrations of vipers are also known in mountainous areas, where they move along the slopes for a distance of several kilometers, apparently due to changes in the food supply of habitats by season or in different years. Vipers hibernate below the freezing layer of soil, at a depth of 40 cm to 2 m, more often in the burrows of rodents or moles, in the passages of rotten roots of trees and shrubs, in the voids of peat bogs, if they are not flooded with water, under haystacks, in big heaps stones and deep rock crevices. There are few suitable places for wintering, especially in the permafrost zone, and their presence quite clearly determines the distribution of vipers over the territory. The temperature in wintering areas should not fall below 2-4°C. More often, vipers hibernate alone or in small groups of 2-5 snakes together, however, in especially convenient places, sometimes several dozen vipers gather; cases of accumulation on wintering up to 200-300 snakes are described. Together with vipers, toads, newts, spindles and other animals were found in winter quarters. The vipers use the same wintering place from year to year.

After wintering, common vipers appear on the surface in the middle of spring, on sunny days, when there is still a lot of snow in the forest in some places. IN middle lane this happens more often in late March - early April, sometimes in early May, depending on the course of spring. Males appear first, and after a few days, females and young. Leave for wintering in the second half of September - early October. In the middle lane, wintering lasts about 180 days; in the south and north of the range, respectively, 2-3 weeks less or more. In the spring, in the first days after leaving winter shelters, males stay in the warmest, well-warmed places, using solar radiation for heating and contact with warm soil, heated trunks. fallen trees or warm flat stones. The body temperature of vipers in nature ranges from 9 to 31 °.

The optimum temperature for males is about 25°, and for pregnant females 28°. Above 37 °, rigor mortis sets in in vipers and they die. In summer, burrows of various animals, rotten stumps, bushes, and various cracks serve as a refuge for vipers. Usually snakes crawl out and bask in the sun repeatedly throughout the day, but they go hunting more often at dusk and are most active in the first half of the night. After a successful hunt, vipers may not leave their shelters for two or three days or more, or they come out only to bask in the sun. Males hunt especially intensively in late May - early June, after the end of the mating period. Females are inactive throughout the entire period of pregnancy.

The diet of vipers is very diverse and varies depending on the place, season and year. As a rule, mouse-like rodents or frogs form the basis of the diet of the common viper during the entire active period, however, during the mass hatching of chicks in small birds nesting on the ground, that is, from early June to early July, chicks are the favorite food of snakes. Most often in the stomachs of vipers you can find gray or bank voles, moored or grass frogs, and from chicks - warblers, skates and buntings.

The general list of animals eaten by common vipers is very extensive and includes a large number of species of small animals, including shrews, all types of amphibians found in the viper's range, a large number of species of small birds (including not only species nesting on the ground) , which the snake, obviously, lies in wait during their feeding, watering (chaffinch, lentil, repol, etc.) or rest. They catch vipers and lizards, among which are more often viviparous and spindle. Young vipers usually feed on insects, especially locusts and beetles, less often they eat caterpillars of butterflies, ants, slugs and earthworms. In some places, young vipers in in large numbers they catch frogs that have just completed metamorphosis. For the first time, female vipers begin to breed at the age of about 5 years, with a total body length of 50-54 cm; males become sexually mature at 4 years of age, reaching a length of about 45 cm.

It is possible that in the south of the range sexual maturity occurs a year earlier. Mating takes place two to three weeks or a month after leaving the wintering grounds, usually from mid-May to early June. Assumption of autumn mating in vipers modern research not confirmed. The number of eggs in the oviducts of the female varies from 5 to 20, depending on the size of the snake and the conditions of the year. However, up to 20% of the eggs are sometimes resorbed (reserved), so that one female often brings 8-12 cubs. As the latest research has shown, there are many folds in the walls of the oviducts of the female viper, the epithelium of which is very rich in capillary blood vessels.

The outer membranes of developing eggs (chorioallantois) are also rich in blood vessels, and gas and water exchange occurs through thin membranes between the chorioallantois of the egg and the walls of the oviduct. Consequently, in an ordinary viper something like a placenta is formed and the development of the embryos occurs not only due to the yolk of the egg, but also through the circulatory system of the female. The period of egg development lasts about 3 months, and the young are born from the second half of July to the beginning of September, the mass birth of the young occurs in August. In the northern and central parts of the range, females give birth in a year; in the south of the range they breed annually. The length of the young at birth is about 16.5 cm. After a few hours or a few days, they molt. Until the first molt, they stay near the place of birth, but when you try to pick them up, they hiss, bite; their bites are poisonous.

After the first molt, the vipers crawl away and begin to look for insects, however, they can do without food for several weeks, existing at the expense of reserve nutrients obtained in the egg. The molting of the young in the future occurs once or twice a month, depending on the condition of the snake. Signs of shedding in the form of fading in color and clouding of the eyes appear about a week before the start. The speed of molting is determined by the state of the body - healthy and strong snakes molt quickly, in just one and a half to two hours, and weak and sick ones molt up to two weeks. During molting, snakes hide in their shelters, do not feed and are inactive.

The sex ratio of the common viper is close to 1:1, but in the spring during the breeding season, males are very active and catch the eye three times more often than females. On the contrary, in June - July, pregnant females are found twice as often as males, as they tend to crawl out into open, well-warmed places. The life expectancy of vipers in nature is little known, however, there are snakes of 11-12 years of age and some live up to 14-15 years.

The enemies of the common viper are serpent eagles, owls, less often storks, and from quadrupeds - badger, fox, ferret and hedgehog. Despite the fact that the common viper is the most widespread venomous snake in our country and its numbers in some areas are significant, relatively few people suffer from its bites. This is due to the fact that she is peaceful and bites a person only if he steps on her or inadvertently grabs her with his hand. When a person approaches, the viper always hurries to crawl away and hide, or, hiding, lies quietly. The bite of a viper is painful, but patients recover in 2-4 days. Illness and complications after a bite, sometimes lasting several weeks, are caused by the use of harmful methods of self-treatment (cauterization, incisions, constriction of the limb with a tourniquet, etc.). For many decades, isolated cases have been known when a viper bite resulted in death, in most cases of children bitten in the face. And in these cases, it is not clear what turned out to be the cause of death - poisoning with snake venom or "treatment".

In August 2014, I visited the Nurgush nature reserve, but my hands did not reach to make out the photographs taken there. Recently, when selecting shots for the photo contest “Reserves and national parks of Russia are 100 years old,” I remembered several portraits of snakes from the reserve. In the protected zone of the Nurgush reserve (the one where outsiders are allowed to access) there is a clearing on which many years ago, even before the formation of the reserve, there was a summer camp for cattle. The remains of which, in the form of a heap of rotten pieces of wood overgrown with lichen, can still be seen on the edge of the clearing. This place is very fond of snakes. Vipers bask in the sun on wooden debris, among which they can hide in case of danger. No wonder this clearing is called Serpentine. Even though they look different, they are all the same common viper(lat. Vipera berus). Some of them are light gray in color with a dark pattern on the back, some are completely black. This is a manifestation of melanism, excessive dark pigmentation. It is easy to distinguish from harmless vipers by the absence of yellow spots in the back of the head, and if you get to know them very close, then the snake has a round pupil, and the viper has a vertical pupil, like a cat. But the viper, too, should not be afraid of panic. For all its toxicity, she herself prefers not to catch the eye of a person and hides at the first danger. Only when cornered or taken by surprise does it hiss and lunge menacingly. You should not even consider your life over if the worst thing happened - you were bitten by a viper. Over the past half century, there have been almost no deaths from the direct bite of a viper (unless Small child was stung in the face), more from the consequences of its improper treatment (cutting the wound, pulling it with a tourniquet, cauterizing and other nonsense). But more on that below.

What does a common viper look like

This snake is 35-50 cm long. The common viper can be of different colors, but there is one hallmark for all vipers: it is a dark zigzag on the back, from the back of the head to the end of the tail, which is accompanied on each side by a longitudinal row of dark spots. It can be assumed that the main color of vipers is silver, but this is conditional, since there are light gray, yellow, green and brown individuals. In some areas, up to 50% of the population are melanistic black vipers. The abdomen of the viper is dark gray or even black. The end of the tail is always a lighter color, more often lemon.

The head behind is noticeably wider than the neck, rather flat, the neck is clearly separated and slightly laterally compressed, the tail is relatively short, noticeably thinner in the last third of its length and ends with a short hard tip. The male has a shorter and thinner body and a relatively thicker and longer tail than the female.

Vipers have large, round eyes. Some say that they reflect some kind of deceit and aggression. The color of the iris is usually bright fiery red, in dark females it is light reddish-brown.

Where do vipers live

The common viper is distributed mosaically in the forest belt of Eurasia from Great Britain, France and northern Italy in the west, to Sakhalin and the Korean Peninsula in the east. In Eastern Europe, the viper sometimes penetrates beyond arctic circle- for example, she lives in the Lapland reserve and on the banks Barents Sea. To the east - in Siberia and the Far East - distribution in many places is limited by the lack of suitable wintering burrows. From the south, the range is limited to the steppe regions.

In the habitat, the viper does not have any special preferences, it can be found here and there: in forests and deserts, on mountains, meadows, fields, swamps and even in the steppes. The main thing is that there should be enough food and light, and she does not show the rest. special requirements. Especially a lot of vipers are found in marshy places. Here they live sometimes in terrifying numbers.

The viper lives in some hole in the soil, under the roots of a tree or between stones, in a mink (from which it first drives out the hosts), in a crevice in the soil - in general, in some kind of similar shelter, near which there should be a small open place where it I could bask in the sun.

Common viper lifestyle

Vipers spend their entire lives (and they live twelve to fifteen years) in the same territory. Distributed unevenly, depending on the availability of places suitable for wintering. Saddled, as a rule, does not move further than 60-100 meters. The exception is forced migration to the wintering place, in this case the snakes can move up to a distance of 2-5 km. In summer it sometimes basks in the sun, but mostly hides under old stumps, in crevices, etc. Despite the fact that vipers love light and warmth, it cannot be argued that this snake leads a diurnal lifestyle, on the contrary, during the day they are slow, they like to soak up the sun, and with the onset of twilight, vipers become active and crawl out to hunt. Even her eyes are adapted to seeing in the dark: the pupil can increase and decrease, which is rare in reptiles.

Vipers feel great at a body temperature of nine to thirty degrees. If the temperature drops below nine or rises above thirty-five degrees, the animal dies. Therefore, the snake is forced to spend the whole day in the shelter, crawling out into the sun several times to warm up.

Vipers winter in the soil at a depth below the freezing layer, climbing into the holes of moles and rodents, the passages of rotten roots of trees and shrubs, deep cracks in rocks and other shelters. Sometimes they accumulate in one place in small groups. Numbness in vipers during the period hibernation lasts in central Russia for about six months.

The viper has a lot of enemies in nature, such as owls, foxes, hedgehogs, ferrets, minks and eagles. The greatest danger to an ordinary viper is a person, primarily his economic activity aimed at deforestation and other changes in natural landscapes. Among forest dwellers the main enemies of vipers are hedgehogs, which are immune to snake venom. The hedgehog uses the following tactic when attacking: it bites the snake's body and immediately curls up into a ball, substituting its needles for a retaliatory strike. The procedure is repeated several times until the viper weakens and dies.

What does a viper eat

The food for vipers is mainly made up of warm-blooded animals, especially mice, which the snake prefers to any other food. From the observations of scientists it follows that she catches mice not only on the ground, but also underground. Chicks, especially those birds that nest on the ground, often fall prey to vipers. It can also prey on adult birds. She eats frogs and lizards only as a last resort.

The viper lies in wait for its prey and bites (for example, wood mouse), and then lets go in order to later find the corpse on the trail, since under the influence of the poison that has penetrated into the wound, the bitten animal quickly dies.

Vipers are predators from birth. Young snakes catch insects - locusts, beetles, less often butterfly caterpillars, ants, slugs and earthworms. In turn, vipers become prey birds of prey and animals.

viper breeding

The mating season is in May, and offspring appear in August or September, depending on the climate. Mating begins only when the spring weather has settled. The number of cubs produced by a female depends on the age of the mother: younger ones have five or six cubs, older ones - 12-14, even 16 pieces.

The viper is a viviparous - the development of eggs and hatching of cubs occurs in the womb. The intrauterine development of viper embryos is very interesting. The walls of the upper shell of the eggs are penetrated by blood vessels, so the embryo feeds on both the yolk of the egg and those dissolved in the mother's blood. nutrients. It happens that at the time of childbirth, the female wraps around a tree or a stump, leaving her tail in the air, “scattering” kites on the ground, which from the first moment begin an independent life. Juveniles are usually 15-20 cm long and are already poisonous. As they grow, they molt, leaving behind crawling out like snakes.

The viper is born evil and remains evil for the rest of its life. Small vipers, freshly hatched from their eggs, hissed and bit angrily when touched. Immediately after birth, each little viper crawls away, and the mother does not pay any attention to the cubs.

What is dangerous viper

Vipers are the most common venomous snakes in central Eurasia. Their bite is dangerous to humans, but not fatal. If a person is not allergic to snake venom, then the bite does not pose a danger to life.

This snake is not aggressive and, when a person approaches, it tries to use its camouflage coloration as much as possible, or crawl away. Only in the event of an unexpected appearance of a person or with a provocation on his part, she can try to bite him. This cautious behavior is explained by the fact that it needs a lot of energy to reproduce the poison in conditions of changing temperatures.

The viper never attacks a person first, only biting if it is being chased, grabbed or stepped on. At the sight of a person, the viper is always in a hurry to crawl away, hide, or lie quietly.

When attacked, the snake curls up and draws its neck into the middle of the formed flat circle, so that with each bite it quickly extends it by 15, at most 30 cm. Retracting the neck is always a sign that the viper wants to bite, immediately after the bite, it again quickly retracts the neck preparing for the next attack.

When attacking, the viper focuses primarily on lightning speed, and not on accuracy. When attacked, she often misses, but immediately makes another attempt until she achieves her goal. You have to be careful, because the viper never attacks silently. Even if she is hunting, before attacking her prey, the snake emits a loud hiss. This hissing or snorting is made with the mouth closed and is caused by her inhaling and exhaling air more forcefully than usual. When air is exhaled, the sound is strong and low; when inhaled, it is weaker and higher.

The viper injects a small amount of poison into the victim. She saves it, since the production of poison is a very energy-intensive process and takes a lot of strength from the snake. The viper has large hollow fangs with a deep groove. The snake injects venom into its prey by reflex contraction of the temporal muscles that surround the venom glands.

What to do with a viper bite

Most often, the bites of non-venomous snakes leave only small scratches on the body. bite the same poisonous snake leaves deep punctures from the teeth through which poison is injected. When bitten, the poison can get under the skin, into the muscle tissue or into the lumen of the victim's vessel. The bite into the lumen of the vessel is more difficult, due to the fact that the poison spreads faster throughout the body, causing various violations. There are cases when the bite occurs with one fang, as a result of which a smaller dose of poison is injected and the poisoning proceeds more easily.

The viper's venom is hemo- and cytotoxic, that is, it destroys blood and tissues. It contains hyaluronidase and phospholipase and destroys the walls of blood vessels, red blood cells, proteins, forms blood clots inside the vessels, leading to circulatory disorders. In addition, the poison disrupts cardiac and liver function, and also disrupts the water-mineral balance.

  • Hyaluronidase- splits connective tissue, destroys the walls of small capillaries, increases the permeability of tissues for water and ions.
  • Phospholipase- splitting the lipid layer of erythrocytes, leads to their destruction (erythrocyte hemolysis).

The above enzymes increase the permeability of cell membranes (mast cells) containing biological active substances(histamine, heparin, etc.), which leads to their release and the manifestation of inflammatory and allergic reactions (swelling, redness, pain, itching).

For humans, the bite of an ordinary viper is considered potentially dangerous, but it rarely leads to death. For example, in the UK, only 14 deaths were recorded between 1876 and 2005, the last of which occurred in 1975 (a five-year-old child died from a bite). About 70% of those bitten either do not experience any symptoms at all, or feel a burning pain directly in the area of ​​​​the bite. Often, redness and swelling develop around the wound - hemorrhagic edema. With a more severe degree of intoxication, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blanching of the skin, increased sweating, chills, and tachycardia are possible within 15-30 minutes. Finally, with especially hypersensitivity, loss of consciousness, swelling of the face, a significant drop in blood pressure, profuse bleeding (DIC), kidney failure, convulsive or coma. In the vast majority of cases, the effects of a bite disappear after 2-4 days, but can stretch for a longer period up to a year. In particular, improper self-treatment can lead to complications.

As first aid for a bite, doctors recommend calming down, applying a pressure bandage (but not a tourniquet), reducing the load on the limb up to immobilization, and providing plenty of fluids. Opinions on the benefits of suctioning the poison from the wound are divided: some experts believe that with this procedure, up to 30-50% of the entire poison can be removed within 10-15 minutes, the other considers it harmful, since bacterial flora can enter the blood along with saliva, causing purulent inflammation. Of the wrong and erroneous, but still occurring methods of treatment, there is the application of transverse incisions at the site of the bite, cauterization, applying a tourniquet, covering with snow.

What to do it is forbidden with a snake bite?

Can't apply a tourniquet. The tourniquet sharply disrupts blood circulation in the bite area and significantly increases the degree of tissue damage. The imposition of a tourniquet for 20-30 minutes sharply worsens the general condition of the patient. The poison is already necrotizing, and you also cut off the blood flow. The case will end with the fact that the arm or leg will have to be amputated.

Can't make cuts, in order for "poisoned blood" to flow out, there is a high probability of damaging a nerve, vessel or tendon, as well as infecting. I remind you once again - the poison is necrotizing, and so the damage is massive. There is no need to exacerbate the picture. Bloodletting is also not necessary. Poison in the systemic circulation is negligible. And the one that is already causing damage to the circulatory system, and even more bleeding will not lead to anything good.

You can not cauterize bite site.

Can't take alcohol, it only speeds up the spread of the poison.

Can't be chipped bite site novocaine or adrenaline, impairs local blood supply, exacerbates tissue damage.

What can be done is to lay the victim so that the head is below the level of the legs. This will keep the cerebral circulation at a more or less acceptable level. The spread of the poison occurs mainly through the lymphatic vessels and increases with muscle contractions. This means that you need to immobilize the bitten limb, as in fractures. Ideally, you need to immobilize the victim himself, give him a plentiful warm and sweet drink (hot tea is fine). The sooner the bitten gets to the hospital, the better.

If possible, the most effective way is to administer an antidote. If a specific serum is introduced to the victim in the shortest possible time, the action of which is directed to the poison of a particular viper, he will get off with only a slight fright. In the case of vipers, the serum must be injected within the first 30 minutes. Well, an hour is the maximum. When administered after a few hours, its effectiveness will drop significantly, and later it is generally pointless to inject.