The Caucasian Viper: An Opponent with Which You Should Not Communicate

The Caucasian adder belongs to the viper family. This snake is poisonous, but its bite is not fatal, although it is unsafe. Vipers are never the first to attack a man, in every possible way trying to avoid contact with him, ie. Crawl out of sight. Moreover, they almost immediately leave the chosen places, if they appear a lot People, or some kind of human activity begins. If, nevertheless, the meeting "face to face" took place, the Caucasian viper does not attack in this case either. She is trying to avoid a fight by false attacks. As soon as a person retreats, the snake immediately creeps away. Its poisonous teeth it will use only in the most extreme case.

It lives only in the west of the Caucasus and in the Transcaucasus, i.e. The sight of these snakes is narrow-aural, moreover, endemic. Many people have heard about this snake, so they have a question: "What does a viper look like?" This reptile is small, its length is about 60 cm. The head is much wider than the body. The snake is painted in lemon yellow, brick red, orange and their combinations with black in the form of zigzag strips or transverse lines. Sometimes there are absolutely black specimens. Young individuals are less bright. Despite the colorful coloration, these snakes are not easy to see against the background of dry leaves and stones. Such a camouflage suit was developed by a Caucasian viper. The photo shows it well.

This snake is quite phlegmatic. She spends most of the day in her hiding place, crawling out for hunting at night. Only a strong hunger can force her to leave the chosen place in the daytime. The Caucasian adder harbors in anticipation of the victim. As soon as she approaches, the snake makes a sharp throw, bites and creeps away. Folds the ball and waits for the poison to act. For example, to kill a mouse, just 1 minute. Then, having calculated the location of the victim by probing with the language of the soil, it crawls and swallows it.

Caucasian viper likes to bask in the sun. In this case, the head and tail of it are always in the shade, and the body - under the sun's rays. This position allows her to better digest the nightly prey. Vipers feed mainly rodents, lizards, but insects are not neglected.

Vipers have their own territory, which they, living, as a rule, in pairs, guard against the aliens. Clumps of snakes or snake foci are extremely rare. But to winter hibernation, snakes usually gather. There is this for two reasons. First, there are not enough suitable shelters. Secondly, gathered in a big ball, the snakes somehow warm each other.

Many cold-blooded animals often die in severe winters. In contrast, vipers always live to see the spring. They equip the winter shelters below the freezing zone and predict the arrival of cold weather in advance, having time to settle in the winter apartments. In a state of hibernation, the Caucasian viper spends about 180 days a year. She emerges from the shelter in about March-April and is awake until September-October.

These snakes are mated in April-May. The Caucasian adder brings the offspring once every 2-3 years, being an egg-living. The female in the oviduct can form from 2 to 5 eggs. The offspring are born in August-September. Each serpentine is in a leathery transparent coat, which gets rid of during the first hour. During the second hour of life, the first molt occurs. Surprisingly, the first week the young does not eat. And from the second week they are already able to swallow prey, by weight comparable to their own.

In connection with a sharp decline in the number of Caucasian viper was listed in the Red Book.