Date: 2011-03-15

R. Pushkin, Moscow

A strange creature lives in the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia - jellus(Ophisaurus apodus). Seeing it for the first time, anyone will decide that it is a snake: a long, more than 100 cm, cylindrical body, an elongated tail, a characteristic way of locomotion - all this is the most consistent with our ideas about snakes.
In reality, this is a completely harmless lizard, only legless. True, upon closer inspection, one can see on her body small papillary outgrowths on the sides of the base of the tail - the rudiments of the hind limbs. It confirms that the yellow-bellied lizard belongs to the lizards and the presence of ear holes - after all, real snakes are deaf, they have no ears. And the eyes of an animal have eyelids; it can blink, while snakes even sleep with their eyes open.

Yellow Slice Photos

This reptile belongs to the spindle family (Anguidae). including 80 species of lizards living in the countries of South, Central and. partly, North America, North Africa. Southwest, South and Southeast Asia. On the territory of the CIS, it is common in the Crimea, the Caucasus and Central Asia, where it is often found in river valleys, thickets of bushes and on cultivated lands. We also have one more representative of the spindle family - the fragile spindle, popular among the people as a very poisonous snake, although this is also a completely safe legless lizard.

The second largest lizard in our fauna, second in size only to the gray monitor lizard.
This reptile is active during the daytime, but on hot days it switches to a twilight lifestyle, willingly goes into the water and bathes for a long time. When frightened, it is able to move very quickly, especially down the slope, while in a calm state it moves slowly and awkwardly.
The person is truly afraid of panic. If other reptiles crawl away silently and imperceptibly, then the jaundice makes so much noise, the grass sways above it so that it is very difficult to confuse it with other reptiles. Perhaps such a non-trivial way of escape is a kind of protective measure, since the lizard, incapable of active defense, making so much noise, imitates a large animal hiding in the grass.
When caught, she does not even try to bite, but, rotating along its own base. tries to "get out" of his hands, as it were. If this does not help, then it hangs lifelessly in its arms, closes its eyes, as if to say: I am dead, throw me out. The only manifestation of a protective reaction on the part of the yellow-bellied can be considered hissing and sharp movements of the tail, which is twice as long as the body.

During the breeding season (June-July), the female jellus lays 6-10 eggs. Of these, in August-September, young animals 100-125 mm long are born. Their slender yellowish-gray bodies are decorated with zigzag cross-stripes. In juveniles, longitudinal ribs on the scutes are much more pronounced compared to adults: they merge into long (from head to tip of tail) rib stripes. From this, their bodies look faceted and shimmer in the sun with yellow highlights.
In general, the color of young animals very little resembles the dirty yellow or copper-red tones of adult animals. However, a characteristic skin fold located along the sides allows an unmistakable identification of the species. Unlike other lizards, and even from snakes, the body of the jaundice is firm to the touch, it is, as it were, chained in a shell.

Yellow Slice Photos

The diet of yellow beetles in nature is made up of invertebrates: snails, beetles, slugs, earthworms. But rodents, lizards, frogs, chicks and bird eggs quite often become part of their menu. Clutching large prey in strong jaws, the yellow lizard stuns with sharp shaking of the head. He also does not disdain carrion. A large share in the diet of the lizard is made up of the fruits of various plants.
The variety of food consumed by the yellow slider makes it one of the most omnivorous inhabitants of the terrarium, which does not give the owner problems with feeding. In captivity, he betrays both live food (mice, frogs, worms, snails), and meat with fish in the form of minced meat or pieces. In the absence of animal food, you can replace it with vegetable: apples, grapes, grated carrots. And yet, depriving lizards of animal protein is not worth it; plant components are best used only as a top dressing for a variety of diet. Cottage cheese and white bread dipped in a raw egg are also good additions.
live in captivity for a long time and breed even in small terrariums. For a pair of adult animals, a room with a bottom area of ​​70x50 cm and a height of about 40 cm is quite enough. It is best to use coarse river sand as a substrate. Large heavy stones or snags are suitable from the scenery, they also serve for the construction of shelters.

It is imperative to have a reservoir that is suitable in size not only for drinking, but also for swimming. The pond should be secured so that your pets cannot turn it over.
Like many reptiles, the yellow toad often defecates into the water, so you need to constantly monitor its purity and replace it in a timely manner.

To heat a terrarium of the specified size, a krypton lamp located in the corner and reliably protected from animals is sufficient. The power of the lamp is selected so that the air temperature is not lower than 25-27 ° C. An aquarium thermostat can be used to maintain its stability. The heating should be turned off at night in order to simulate a natural drop in temperature to 18-20 ° C.
In addition to heating and lighting, the yellow jellyfish, like other reptiles, needs ultraviolet irradiation. Usually erythema lamps or Photon devices are used for this. Sessions are carried out 1-2 times a week for 20-30 minutes from a distance of 50-100 cm. The first procedures should not exceed 5 minutes, then their duration is gradually increased.

Yellow Slice Photos

Despite the ease of care, jellies cannot be classified as an animal widespread among lovers of domestic reptile keeping. One of the main reasons for this is the lizard's amazing ability to create disorder in the terrarium, quickly destroying the scenery created there. It must be remembered that the jaundice is a strong animal and the cage locks must be strong enough.
With good care, regular feeding (2-3 times a week), attentive attitude to animals, you will get real pleasure from observation, you will learn a lot of interesting things about the amazing world of reptiles.
In conclusion, I would like to say: if you meet a jaundice in nature, do not harm him. Remember that this is a useful lizard that destroys a huge number of mice, grasshoppers and locusts, beetles, leaf beetles, slugs, weevils and other pests of agricultural land.

Magazine Aquarium 1999 №2

The largest snake in Europe, despite its gigantic size, amazes with grace and speed of movement. Yellow bellied snake not poisonous, but it cannot be argued that meeting with him will be safe.

There has always been a special interest in the reptile - a big one strikes the imagination and arouses curiosity. About yellow belly tell a lot of tales and rumors. Russian researchers have been studying the slender snake; reliable information and observations are reflected in the works of scientists.

Description and features

The reptile is called the yellow-bellied or yellow-bellied snake for a bright color of the lower body, sometimes orange. Its other name is Caspian. In some species and small cubs, the abdominal part is grayish with yellow spots.

The upper part of the snake, when viewed from a distance, is more monochromatic: olive, gray-yellow, brick, reddish-black. Many shades are associated with the habitat of the snake.

Reptile color is a natural camouflage that gives an advantage when hunting. Therefore, representatives of even one species differ in color from light to dark tones.

Each scale on the snake's body has a small pattern. The light center inside is surrounded by a darker rim, so the overall pattern seems fine-mesh, on clear days it seems to reflect the sun's rays. The scales are smooth, without ribs.

Young individuals can be distinguished by specks on the back, which are located so close that they merge into transverse stripes. They also run along the sides of the body.

The snake can often be found near the settlement of people, but the yellow-bellied does not seek to meet with them

The largest reptile in Europe reaches a maximum length of 2.5 meters. The usual size of a yellow-bellied snake is 1.5 - 2 meters, a third of the total length is taken by the tail. The body does not exceed 5 cm in diameter. In the area of ​​the Aegean islands, yellow-bellied snakes are shorter - up to 1 meter.

The snake perfectly controls the body, flexibility and grace are inherent in its movements. Females are shorter than males.

The head of a reptile is of medium size, covered with scutes, slightly delimited by the shape from the body. The tip of the muzzle is rounded. Around large, slightly convex, eyes with a round pupil, yellow specks. The mouth is filled with rows of sharp, backward-curved teeth.

Yellowbelly - snake from the family of narrow-shaped. Next to small relatives, she is just a giant. In the CIS countries, it is considered one of the largest reptiles. Like other already-shaped representatives, the snake is not poisonous.

Preparing to attack, yellowbelly zigzags

Within the area of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe yellow-bellied snake, in appearance, it is sometimes confused with the Balkan snake or lizard. The Balkan snake is much shorter, covered with dark spots on the back and belly. The lizard snake has a characteristic concave head shape.

Kinds

The yellow-bellied (Caspian) snake is a species representative of the genus Dolichophis (lat.), I.e. serpent from the family of already-shaped. In addition to him, there are 3 more types of related reptiles:

  • Dolichophis jugularis;
  • Dolichophis schmidti - red-bellied snake;
  • Dolichophis cypriensis - Cypriot snake.

Dolichophis jugularis is an inhabitant of the islands of the Aegean Sea, the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait. The species is found in Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania. The snake prefers open places among hills and fields.

It is more often found on the ground, although it moves well through trees. High activity manifests itself in the daytime. You can recognize the variety by its thick brown, almost black, color and weakly expressed lines along the back. The length of an adult snake reaches 2-2.5 meters.

Dolichophis schmidti is a red-bellied snake, recently recognized as a separate species, earlier it was considered a subspecies of the Caspian relative. The main difference is in the color of not only the reddish belly, but also the back of this shade, the eyes.

It lives mainly in Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, the Caucasus, the North of Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Dagestan. The snake is found on the banks of rivers with dense thickets, in fruit orchards, on the slopes of mountains up to 1500 m high.

It hides in the holes of rodents if it senses danger, but it can attack with throws towards the enemy, painful bites.

Dolichophis cypriensis - The Cypriot snake is distinguished by its olive, gray-brown color with white dots on the back. The tail is always uniform, without markings. It grows up to 1-1.15 meters.

The snake lives in a mountainous area, perfectly moves along the steep walls. The snake's name indicates its habitat.

Each yellow belly in the photo recognizable by color. It has many features in common with close and distant relatives: excellent vision, high speed of movement, instant reaction.

Lifestyle and habitat

It is not for nothing that the yellow-bellied snake is called Caspian for the distribution of the reptile practically throughout the entire territory of the Caspian basin, especially in regions with a warm climate. Crimea, Moldova, southern, Hungary, Romania, the islands of Kythnos, Karpathos, Ciscaucasia, Stavropol Territory of Russia - everywhere the snake settles in dry and warm places.

Habitat of yellow bellies- in deserts, semi-deserts, sparse forests and plantations, steppe zones. On the mountain slopes, the snake is found at an altitude of up to 2000 meters among rocks and in rocky gorges.

The snake can be found in rodent burrows, where it hides from danger if chased by a fox or marten. The snake hides even in the hollows of trees, often captures the dwellings of its victims.

She climbs well on the branches, she is not afraid of heights, she can jump to the ground from a building or a cliff. On the shores of reservoirs, the snake appears while hunting for prey, which is always abundant in the coastal thickets.

Yellow bellies move easily through trees

If the yellow belly was found in an abandoned house or under a haystack, then, probably, a secluded place was chosen for a clutch of eggs. In general, the snake is not picky about its habitat. The main conditions are warmth and availability of food.

The snake remembers its shelters well, always returns to them, even if it moves a decent distance. The reptile is not afraid of noise, therefore it often appears near people, although it does not seek a meeting with them.

Forest predators hunt for snakes: large birds, martens, foxes. Death overtakes the yellow belly, often due to its large size and open lifestyle. Persistent dislike of a person towards him gives rise to the desire for reprisals.

Cars are also a big threat to reptiles. The runner cannot stop the car by hissing and attacking the enemy.

Human economic activity gradually limits the habitat of snakes. The number is decreasing, although the yellow belly is not yet threatened with extinction.

The yellow belly is active during the day. At night, their reaction diminishes. known for their aggressive nature, as evidenced by many eyewitnesses. If a person seems dangerous to the snake, then the yellow belly rushes into the attack first.

It opens its mouth, hisses loudly, inflates its tail, then swiftly rushes at the enemy and tries to bite in the most vulnerable place. The attack can be repeated several times, overtaking the enemy. Although the snake is not venomous, bite wounds can be very serious.

When attacking prey, the yellow belly swallows small prey whole or squeezes it coiling around

The vicious character is manifested not only in adults, but even in young animals. It is worth noting, however, that not a single person died from the runner's attack.

Yellow-bellied are not afraid of the enemy, superior in size and strength, rarely retreat. The characteristic spiral pose speaks of the determination and fighting spirit of the snake. Among animals, even large horses are afraid of encounters with a snake - yellow belly beats its tail on the legs of an artiodactyl, causing injury.

It is important to note that aggressiveness is more often caused by the protection of the reptile from opponents who have encroached on its territory. The usual meeting of a man with a snake on the trail ends with a peaceful retreat of the yellow belly, avoiding people.

The snake, like many snakes, is often kept in captivity. Reptiles are very restless at first. They gradually get used to it, lose their former aggressiveness and do not pose a danger.

Yellow-bellied snakes are prepared for wintering very carefully. Shelters are created in the depressions of the earth, in the burrows of rodents. Several reptiles can be in one place.

The species of yellow bellied snakes is not rare, although a hundred years ago the snake population was more numerous.

Nutrition

The snake is an excellent hunter, whose strengths are instant reaction, speed of movement, keen eyesight. Vigorous pursuit of prey leaves no chance even for nimble lizards, dexterous rodents, which the yellow belly can get from any hole.

The large dimensions of the snake make it possible to feed not only on small organisms, but also to feast on adult gophers, hamsters, land birds, and other snakes. Most often, the food supply includes large insects such as locusts, eggs from devastated bird nests, forest mice, frogs, and shrews.

During the hunt, the yellow-bellied snake climbs tall trees, deftly sneaks between branches, and can jump to the ground for prey. The bites of venomous snakes such as the viper, which the snake does not disdain, do little harm to it.

In search of food, Yellowbelly uses a cunning tactic of waiting in ambush. The attack is manifested not in snake bites, but in squeezing a large victim with body rings until it is completely immobilized.

The yellow belly simply swallows small prey whole. It is not difficult for the runner to catch up with the runaway prey. The high speed of the yellowbelly in pursuit leaves no chance for anyone.

Reproduction and life expectancy

Under natural conditions, the life of the yellow-bellied snake lasts 6-8 years. Not all reptiles reach this age - the life of a snake is full of dangers and unforeseen encounters with enemies, the main of which is man.

The snake is not afraid of noise, but prefers to make a nest in quiet secluded places

Natural opponents in nature are birds of prey, fox and marten. The yellow-bellied snake is a favorite delicacy for them. In conditions of captivity, life is longer, up to 10 years, because there is no reason to fear enemies, appropriate care and feeding also give a positive result.

At 3-4 years old, the sexual maturity of the Carpathian reptiles comes, the time comes to search for a suitable pair. Mating of individuals begins in late April - early May. During the mating season, snakes can be seen together.

The vigilance of reptiles of this pore weakens, they often become victims. For those who survived, there is a sufficient period to wait for the babies growing rapidly before the arrival of the first cold weather.

Females lay an average of 5-16 eggs in June - early July. Offspring of 18 individuals is also not uncommon. Eggs are hidden in hollows or soil depressions, hidden among stones, but are not guarded by snakes.

Incubation lasts approximately 60 days. Young yellow-bellied snakes grow rapidly after emergence and lead an independent life. Parents show no concern for their offspring. In nature, a population of viable yellow bellies is naturally preserved.

The largest lizard of the Crimea. - Zheltopusik (not dangerous to human life.). It is a very large lizard. The record length for the species is 144 cm (with a tail). The tail is about twice as long as the body. The head of the jaundice passes into the body without the slightest hint of a cervical interception. It has a shape, characteristic of lizards, evenly tapering towards the tip of the muzzle. The jaundice retains rudiments of the hind limbs, which do not play any role in its life. Teeth are very characteristic - powerful, dull, adapted to crushing. The body of the jellyfish is hard and inflexible, as it is covered with large ribbed scales, under which there are bone plates about 5x5 millimeters in size, forming a bony shell. Because of this trait, the genus, which includes the jaundice, is called "shell spindle". There is a gap between the ventral and dorsal parts of the bone mail, which from the outside looks like a lateral longitudinal fold of skin. It is formed by one or two rows of smaller scales without a bone base. Thanks to these folds, a slightly greater body mobility is provided. In addition, the folds allow for an increase in body volume when eating or carrying eggs. Adult jellies are colored yellow and brown. Small dark spots are sometimes scattered over this background. The underside of the body is lighter. Young jellies look completely different: they are striped. The background color of their body is yellowish gray, the stripes are dark, transverse, zigzag. Where does the yellow jellyfish live? The yellow lizard is a southern lizard. In Europe, it is found only on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Crimea; widespread in Asia Minor and the Middle East, in Central Asia and in the south of Kazakhstan. In Russia, it is known from the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Kalmykia and Dagestan. In the areas of its distribution, the yellow toad uses a variety of open habitats: steppes and semi-deserts, mountain slopes, sparse forests, vineyards and abandoned fields. Occurs at altitudes up to 2300 meters. He has a daytime activity, and he often catches the eye - crawls out onto the roads, climbs into buildings. In contrast to the shade and moisture-loving spindle, the yellow jellyfish prefers dry and sunny biotopes. But on the other hand, he willingly enters shallow water and can stay in the water for a long time, although he practically does not know how to swim. At night and on a hot afternoon, the yellow jellyfish hides in thickets of bushes, under objects lying on the ground, in heaps of stones. In some places, yellow lizards are a common and frequent lizard. Despite the relatively low flexibility of the body, the yellow jellyfish can crawl at a fairly high speed. At the same time, it wriggles intensively in waves with a large amplitude, and, having overcome several meters, stops for a short time. Then another powerful jerk, and again a short pause. This crawl differs markedly from the smooth and even movement of snakes. The yellow jellyfish has to move a lot - in a day it develops an area with a radius of about 200 meters. What do the yellow beetles eat? The yellow slider is one of the few lizards specialized in feeding on certain "products". Powerful jaws and developed blunt teeth are adapted to crushing the outer shells of animals, primarily mollusks. Both in nature and in captivity, the jaundice prefer this particular prey. If the spindle chooses naked slugs or cleverly pulls the snails out of their shells, then the yellow jellyfish simply bites through their "houses" like a nutcracker. Even such large mollusks with a thick shell, such as the grape snail, are defenseless against the yellow jellyfish. He actively searches for his prey. Noticing it, it can very slowly creep up and then, from a distance of several centimeters, lightning fast rush at it with its mouth wide open, which, as it were, covers the victim from above. He not only crushes snails with his jaws, but, holding them in his mouth, presses against nearby stones. The swallowed shells and their debris are digested in the stomach of the jaundice. Just like snails, the yellow jellyfish bites through large hard insects - beetles, orthoptera. On occasion, he will eat a bird's egg, and a chick, and a mouse-like rodent, and a toad, a lizard, and even a snake. It tries to press down the seized prey, quickly spinning around its axis, so that the victim is crushed on the ground. Like spindles, two jellies, seizing one prey from two ends, can, while rotating in different directions, tear it apart “like brothers”. In contrast to the spindle, the yellow toad includes plant foods in its diet, for example, apricot carrion, Viznrad berries. The omnivorous jaundice even eats carrion - a rare food for reptiles; in nature, we observed how the yellow-bellies tried to swallow the corpses of pikas and magpies. Breeding of the yellow toddler Almost nothing is known about the social and mating behavior of the yellow toddler. In captivity, lizards of this species are peaceful in relation to each other and to the snakes kept together with them. Males are much more common in nature than females. Perhaps the females are less active and spend more time in shelters. The jaundice has powerful jaws, but it rarely uses them for defense. Taken in hand, it tries to free itself with the help of vigorous twisting and rotation around its axis. The enemy can also be doused with excrement. These lizards breed by laying eggs. In clutch there are 6-10 large eggs in elastic white shell; their length is 3-4 centimeters, width is 1.5-2 centimeters. A case was noted when a female guarded her clutch by wrapping herself around it, as some snakes do. Young jellies about 10 centimeters long hatch after a month and a half. It remains a mystery why adults in their habitats are common and common animals, and their juveniles are extremely rare. Perhaps this is due to the still unknown features of the biology of young jaundice. Like the spindle, the yellow-bellied moult shifts the dead skin layers to the tail. Large size and bone "chain mail" protect adult animals from most natural predators. They are attacked by some birds, as well as by foxes and dogs. It does not regenerate in yellow-breasted ones. In nature, you can find a lot of individuals with traces of trauma and torn off the ends of their tails. In some populations, the proportion of such persons with disabilities reaches 50 percent. Obviously, the main culprits of these injuries are predators, grabbing lizards by their long tails when they crawl into shelters that do not fit entirely, and the defenseless tail remains outside. Hedgehogs are especially dangerous in this respect - they cannot cope with a large and strong lizard, but they can easily tear off or bite off a piece of its tail. Perhaps the tail of the yellow jellyfish freezes during sudden frosts. It is also possible that the jaundice themselves can injure each other in fights or when mating. Traumatized and tailless lizards do not differ from healthy ones either in behavior or in the nature of their activity. Many of these lizards are destroyed by man in his eternal struggle with snakes. They are also caught for keeping in captivity (jaundice live well in terrariums and in open-air enclosures). But a person inflicts no less damage on them indirectly: the yellow-bellies die on the roads, fall into various pits, ditches, structures from which they cannot get out.

In the reservoirs of the eastern Crimea, there is a rare swamp turtle... You can distinguish it from terrestrial species from the Balkans and the Caucasus by the swimming membrane between the toes. The shell of a marsh turtle is about 15 centimeters. As the name suggests, she cannot live without water; feeds on all kinds of aquatic animals, small fish, plants. At night he sleeps at the bottom of a river or pond, and hibernates there, buried in silt. In spring, turtles lay their eggs in depressions on the banks of water bodies. Two months later, small, very mobile turtles are born and run headlong to the water. Until next spring (until the shell hardens), they do not go out on land: it is too dangerous.

Lizard fast

Rock lizard found only in the Crimean mountains. Bravely and dexterously she jumps on rocks and even on the fly grabs prey (small insects).
In the steppe Crimea, there is a large (up to 12 cm), with a white stripe along the back,. In late spring - early summer, you can watch funny knightly tournaments of male lizards with bright green bellies for the attention of an inconspicuous, gray female.

Snake-like - the largest (up to 110 cm) Crimean legless lizard. Yellowbirds live in the mountains and on the coast, no further than Feodosia. They settle among rocks and stone heaps overgrown with grass, but closer to people. The eyes of the yellow lizard, unlike those of the snake, are protected by the eyelids, with which the lizard blinks. On her abdomen, one can find rudimentary rudiments of the hind limbs.

The yellow jellyfish never bites a person, although it has excellent teeth and, as A. Bram wrote, can bite and swallow even an evil poisonous viper. The diet of this harmless lizard: insects, terrestrial mollusks (snails and slugs), ordinary lizards and small rodents. Helpful jaundice must be guarded.

The largest Crimean snake - yellow-bellied snake... When this snake crawls, its head is raised, and its neck is arched, like the front of a sled runner - hence the name.

Less common yellow-bellied four-strip runner... Both species are non-poisonous, but dangerous for their indomitable disposition. Alarmed, the snake fiercely defends itself, and while guarding a clutch of eggs, it may be the first to rush at a person in order to bite until it bleeds. Polozov was called in the old days "the family of evil snakes."


Leopard runner

Since ancient times, the most beautiful of the Crimean snakes is a relict, inhabited the entire eastern coast, right up to Sudak. Now he is on the verge of complete extermination.

Copperhead- a small, beautiful non-venomous snake with a copper-red abdomen, up to 60 cm long. Its back is covered with longitudinal rows of dark spots, which on the neck and head merge into a pattern resembling a crown. Hence the Latin name for Copperhead - Coronella. For humans, this snake is not dangerous. Copperhead lays eggs, in which already developed snakes are visible through the transparent shell. They can only break through the barrier and crawl, which happens very soon after laying the eggs.

Ordinary already has two orange spots on the sides of the head. Feeding on frogs and toads, it willingly swims, but it catches mice and lizards far from the water.
Water already slightly larger than usual (up to 120 cm), does not have characteristic spots on the head, and its abdomen is colored orange with black rectangular spots. It feeds on fish and leaves water bodies only for hibernation. Water snakes are found off the coast of Karadag, there are many of them on the coast of the Azov Sea. Snakes are harmless and peaceful.


Steppe viper

In unplowed areas and in forest belts, we can meet. In recent years, due to a decrease in the area of ​​cultivated land and less use of pesticides, the number of vipers has increased. In spring and summer, the viper catches small rodents; in autumn, insects, including those harmful to agriculture (for example, locusts), and small rodents make up most of its diet. For the winter, vipers hibernate, hiding in holes - vipers. In March, they usually wake up and crawl out to hunt.

The viper, like any poisonous snake, has venom glands on the sides of the head. They give the head a triangular shape. Unlike other Crimean snakes, the viper reproduce not by laying eggs, but by viviparity, and once a year, in July-August, 15-20 snakes, which immediately spread out.

The nature of the viper lives up to its name. Extremely quarrelsome and spiteful, she, nevertheless, avoids a person and can only bite on the defensive. If this happens, you need to apply a tourniquet above the bite site and try to suck out the poison. You can put a medical jar for this purpose. It is useless to cauterize the wound with fire. Do not hesitate to see a doctor; the bite is the more dangerous, the closer to the head. Although no deaths from viper bites have been reported in Crimea, take this last tip seriously.

Taxonomic affiliation: Class - Reptiles (Reptilia), row - Lizards (Sauria), family - Spindles (Anguidae). The only representative of the genus. The species includes 2 subspecies, P. a lives in Ukraine. apodus (Pallas, 1775). Previously, the species was assigned to the genus Ophisaurus Daudin, 1803.

Conservation status: Vanishing.

The area of ​​the species and its distribution in Ukraine: From the Balkan Peninsula to the south. Kazakhstan and Iran. In Ukraine, he lives only in the Crimea, where he inhabits the low mountains of the West. parts of the Crimean mountains (the southern coast of Crimea and the village of the macroslope of the mountains to the valley of the Alma river up to an altitude of 500-700 m above sea level), with. and east. coast of the Kerch Peninsula. It was also observed in the extreme west of the Tarkhankut Peninsula.

The number and reasons for its change In south-west In parts of the Crimean Mountains and in the Kerch Azov Sea region, the yellow pus has still retained a high number (in some places up to 7-15 individuals per 1 km of the route), but usually the population density does not exceed 0.2-0.5 individuals / km. Mediterranean relic near the village. the border of the range, is especially vulnerable due to the late onset of puberty and low survival rates of young animals.

Reasons for the change in numbers: Destruction of biotopes (especially with continuous buildings), destruction by humans, mass deaths on highways.

Features of biology and scientific significance: Active from late February - late March to September-November. Summer hibernation is possible in dry years. Storage - voids under stones and roots of bushes, holes of rodents. It feeds on large insects (Coleoptera, Orthoptera), molluscs, crustaceans, scolopendra, less often small vertebrates. Mating takes place in April-May. The only clutch of 4-10 eggs is in June-July. Young growth appears in September-October. It is of great scientific importance.

Morphological signs: A very large, legless lizard with a serpentine body. The length of the body is up to 82 cm, but usually less than 48 cm. The tail is on average 1.6 times longer than the body. On the sides of the body there is a deep leather bundle, near the cloacal opening there are rudiments of the hind limbs. The color of the upper body is olive or reddish-brown, the belly is yellowish-gray. Underyearlings are light gray in color with transverse brown stripes.

Population conservation regime and protection measures:: The species is under the special protection of the convention (Appendix II). Protected in the Yalta mountain-forestry, Cape Martyan, Krymsky and Kazantipsky reserves. Relocation of lizards from dying urban populations to the nearest protected areas, strengthening the protection of the Karalar steppe, reintroduction of the species in the Karadag and Opuk RoWs and outreach work with the population are recommended.

Economic and commercial value: The destruction of invertebrates harmful to humans can be beneficial. It is illegally caught for sale, therefore it has a certain commercial value.