Yellow-bellied snake - scary, but not dangerous

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

This snake belongs to the snake family and therefore cannot be poisonous. The yellow-bellied snake is also called the yellow-bellied or yellow-bellied snake. In Europe, there is no larger snake, it can reach a length of two and a half meters. Yellowbelly crawls very fast, has a graceful body and a relatively long tail. The upper part of the body is painted in a solid color: olive, brown or almost black. Juveniles have one or more often two rows of spots on their backs

dark in color, in places they merge to form transverse stripes. On the head, dark dots merge into a regular geometric pattern. A number of small spots are also located on the sides of the snake. Her belly has a grayish-white color with yellow stains located along the edges of the abdominal scutes.

Habitats

The yellow-bellied snake prefers to settle in dry places, basking in the daytime in areas open to the sun's rays. It is active only during daylight hours. It can hide in bushes, in gardens, vineyards and ruins of buildings. In the mountains it occurs up to a height of 2000 meters, where it hides among rocks on rocky slopes. Yellow-bellied hides not only among stones and thickets of bushes, but also in rodent burrows or in hollows of trees. It climbs well on branches, but does not climb to great heights. Although, in general, he is not afraid of heights and, if necessary, can jump down from a tree or a cliff.

The snake is often found on the shores of water bodies, not because it likes to swim, but due to the presence of a large amount of food in coastal thickets. Sometimes the yellow-bellied snake crawls under a haystack wall or into an outbuilding.

The hunter and his prey

With sharp eyesight, quick reactions and high movement speed, the snake is a successful hunter. The prey of the snake is most often small mammals, lizards and large insects, such as locusts or their relatives. The snake destroys bird nests located on the ground or low on trees and shrubs. The yellow-bellied snake menu is quite diverse, it includes lizards, snakes, birds, rodents.

He even hunts vipers, sometimes getting bitten by them, but, apparently, he does not suffer much from this. Considering the intensity of the yellowbell hunt, it can be argued that where it lives, there are no rodents or poisonous snakes in sight.

Defensive aggression

Usually, when faced with a person, the yellow-bellied snake tries to retreat quickly. But throughfor some time he will certainly return to his former place, especially if his refuge is located there. If there is nowhere to retreat or a person comes close to his shelter, the snake boldly rises to his defense. At the same time, he not only demonstrates his aggressiveness, but also makes jumps towards the enemy. The wide-open mouth, loud hissing and bold attack make an impression. The snake may even bite for some weak spot. The bites are quite strong, but they are not poisonous. The yellow-bellied snake is, in fact, a harmless creature, its aggressiveness is forced, and its evil disposition serves as a defense against those who encroach on its territory.