Snakes cause conflicting emotions in different people. Some are terrified and freeze with fear at the sight of any snake, others admire their grace and perfection and strive to take a closer look. What to expect if you suddenly meet a yellow snake on your way? Are they poisonous and aggressive? Acquaintance with information about the most common types of yellow snakes will help answer these questions.
Popular and harmless
If on your way you meet a yellow snake, or rather, a reptile with characteristic markings of this color on its head, then, most likely, you already have an ordinary snake in front of you. Snakes of this species are the most common, they can be found in any corner of our planet. Variations in their color and size may vary slightly, but in general, the snake can be easily identified by knowing its main external characteristics:
- Snakes have a uniform back color. dark green to greenish gray.
- The head is not too wide, it smoothly transitions from the body, without noticeable expansion.
- Already is a snake with yellow spots on its head, which are placed on its sides. A little less often they can be white or beige.
- The size of common snakes varies from 50 to 80 centimeters inlength, diameter does not exceed 5 centimeters.
The named reptile chooses a humid climate with lots of rocks, stumps or branches to hide. Therefore, the greatest probability of meeting these snakes is on the banks of reservoirs, forest lakes. Also, these snakes are excellent swimmers, so if you encounter a snake while swimming in a pond, you should not panic, most likely it is. He is not aggressive, he can bite a person only for the purpose of self-defense, and his bite is absolutely harmless and shallow.
Yellow belly and slim body
When going to travel to the steppe area with a dry climate, as well as to the mountains, you need to know the features of such a snake as the yellow-bellied snake. These snakes reach very large sizes, averaging 2 meters in length. At the same time, the diameter of their body is small, no more than 7 centimeters, thanks to this effect, the snake always remains a “slender” snake.
Snake is a yellow snake that has a very aggressive disposition. If she senses danger at the sight of a person, she can deliver a warning blow and attack first. She moves extremely quickly, sharply and actively. In the rush of an attack, it can even jump quite high in order to bite the victim in an unprotected place.
Distinguishing the snake is easy: in addition to the characteristically slender body, it is distinguished by the color that gave rise to the name. The back of the snake can be gray-green or dark olive, but the belly is always in shades of yellow.
Having met a yellow-belliedthe snake is on its way, you need not make sudden movements and gradually move away from the snake so as not to provoke an attack of its aggression.
Conditionally poisonous beauty
Now most of our compatriots prefer to spend their holidays in warm tropical regions. On the territory of such popular countries for holidaymakers as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines, there is a snake with a yellow head - a mangrove.
Snakes of this species belong to the family of already figurative, but have a number of significant differences from the harmless snakes familiar to us.
The mangrove snake is quite large: it can reach two and a half meters in length and 6 - 8 centimeters in diameter. Her head, like that of a snake, does not stand out too much against the background of the body. The color of the back is dark green, almost black, but the lower part of the head is painted bright yellow. Yellow stripes run all over the belly, gradually decreasing towards the tail.
The mangrove snake is considered conditionally poisonous. This means that her bite can have a toxic effect on humans, expressed in fever, swelling, pain, but does not pose a mortal danger. This type of snake is not aggressive, but is quite capable of biting in defense. In the daytime, mangrove snakes rest on tree branches, where they crawl with ease. Therefore, when traveling through the rainforests, you need to be extremely careful.
Yellow-black danger
The most dangerous to humans is a yellow snake called krait. She lives in India, Thailand, in the south of Asia. You can distinguish a krait snake by the following signs:
- small size - an average of one and a half meters in length;
- bright color of yellow and black stripes;
- laterally compressed body resembling a triangle in cross section;
- a distinct head that is slightly wider than the torso.
Krait snake is nocturnal - at this time it is very active and quite aggressive. During the day, the snake rests and does not show signs of hostility, even if a person approaches a short distance.
The bite of such a beauty is almost always fatal, even the serum administered on time does not greatly increase the chances of survival. Despite the calm behavior of this snake in the daytime, having met it, you should not take risks and try to take a closer look. It is best to move away without making sudden movements. And in the evening, you should be extremely careful and carefully inspect the place for a walk and overnight for snakes.
Snakes can cause different emotions: you can love them, or you can be afraid. But in any case, you need to know the main signs of poisonous and dangerous reptiles in order to behave correctly in case of a chance meeting.
