Overview and characteristics of snakes that are found in the Crimea

On the Crimean peninsula a huge number of snakes. Some of them pose a real threat to people. In our article we will give a description of these creatures and tell you how to protect yourself on vacation, what to do when attacking, and how to give first aid to the victim when you bite.

We will make a reservation in advance - there is not a single snake in the Crimea, which is a mortal danger to humans. Nevertheless, there are two snakes, the bite of which can give people a lot of trouble - a steppe viper and a yellow-bellied snake.

The reptile has a rather distinctive appearance. The body length of an adult individual varies from 40 to 58 cm, as a rule, females are slightly larger than males. The snake resembles the most common viper, the only difference is a pointed muzzle slightly stretched forward. The skin tone is brownish-gray, on the back you can see a zigzag pattern, which has the form of ordinary spots, randomly located on the back. There are also spots on the sides of the reptile, however, they are not as saturated and bright as on the back, and are located exactly in 2 rows.

The skin on the belly of the steppe vipers is usually much lighter, sometimes inconspicuous grayish specks may differ. Absolutely black reptiles are extremely rare here.

Like all other vipers, Steppe poison is characterized by hemolytic action, that is, it has the property of changing the composition of blood and destroying the walls of blood vessels (This is the property of snake venom used in pharmacology when creating drugs for thrombophlebitis). Severe pain, swelling and redness appear almost immediately at the site of the bite; in the case of strong individual intolerance, the hand may even begin to turn blue. Often the temperature rises and a feverish state appears.

This snake can not be called poisonous, but, no doubt, it is one of the most aggressive in the Crimea. This reptile attacks anyone who approaches it, regardless of whether the person threatens the snake and its offspring or not.

Yellow-bellied snake has a very impressive size - up to two meters in length, it has a large head and strong teeth, because the snake does not have the slightest difficulty to bite through human skin.

When this snake is attacked, a painful sensation arises, but usually there is no need for medical care. - the wounds themselves are tightened for two to three days, although a small scar remains in memory.

Quite often, snakes are the real victims of human prejudice.

This is a relatively small snake, the length of which rarely exceeds 80 cm. The color can be very diverse - brownish-reddish individuals with a slight metallic tint are most common, but in the Crimea one can also find gray, and dark brown, and even completely black coppers. A common feature of each of the snakes with this name are eyes with a pronounced cross bar.

Copperhead does not have poison, and her teeth are very small, even the largest individuals can only slightly scratch the skin when attacking.. The intensity of such an injury can be compared with the result of the easy prank of a little kitten, such damage usually heals in a couple of days without using any medications. Young snakes are unable to even damage the skin.

Some of the Crimean reptiles are automatically attributed to the poisonous on the sole reason that they are too beautiful. We can say that this is a kind of medieval witch hunt, only in a different incarnation. Among such victims of the treaty is the leopard snake.

This is a snake of medium size - up to 1-1.5 meters in length.

The skin resembles a leopard print fashionable in recent years - it has a whitish or gray body with specks of red or red with a black border. Like all other snakes, this snake is able to climb trees, but most often it hides on the ground under various shelters, for example, under boulders and driftwood.

Leopard runner can bite but no such wounds are dangerous. As a rule, such snakes attack children who see a beautiful “lizard” and try to catch it with their hands. The wound is almost not felt and heals very quickly. Such snakes carry no danger to humans, which cannot be said about the reptiles themselves. Nowadays, the animal is being actively exterminated: some kill snakes “just in case”, others catch it for the sake of getting expensive skin, and still others - for keeping in domestic terrariums.

Everybody knows the usual one - it is a snake of a dark shade with characteristic and easily distinguishable spots of white or yellowish color on both sides of the head. Such snakes prefer wet places, feed on frogs and mice.

Such snakes bite quite rarely, but if this happens, the sensations will not be the most pleasant. - the fact is that these reptiles have bent teeth with which they can tear the skin, and they don’t clean the teeth, therefore an infection can get into the wound. Treatment usually comes down to the use of standard antimicrobial solutions.

Much worse, if for the defeat of the attacker, he uses the means of "chemical attack" - sometimes an angry snake simply splashes out on the person the entire contents of his intestine. The smell will be disgusting, it is impossible to remove it, while it is highly resistant - it lasts a week or even more.

In the Crimea, there are not so many places where you can meet venomous snakes. For example, in the mountains there are none, if only in a clearing or a small stretch of steppe at its foot. There are no reptiles directly in stones and rocks.

There are no snakes in the Black Sea either, they are found on land, mainly in the steppe or near forests.

In most cases, snake bites do not pose any threat to a person, so all treatment comes down to the usual wound disinfection. The only exception is the bite of a steppe viper, however, and it does not represent a real risk for people. In the vast majority of cases, a person recovers without the use of special therapeutic methods of treatment within 2-5 days. But it is better to avoid contact with this reptile.

If you notice a snake, then try to keep calm and move away, in any case do not tease the animal - no need to beat her with a stick, grab the tail and twist, do not need to be photographed with a reptile, all this often ends with a bite.

If such an unpleasant event did occur, the main thing - do not panic! Blood may appear from the wound, you may feel a worsening of the condition, swelling and stains of an incomprehensible color may appear at the site of the bite, but in any case people do not die from the poison of this snake. With timely assistance provided can significantly alleviate the condition of the bitten.

The serum has the highest efficiency, but it is far from being in every first-aid post. Yes, and attacks, as a rule, occur far from urban settlements, where doctors work, therefore, first aid will have to be rendered on the spot. First of all, you need to suck out poison from the wound - keep in mind that this can be done only if there are no wounds and injuries in the oral cavity. Try not to swallow the poison, but even if this happens, do not worry - the composition splits in the stomach and is excreted with the urine from the body.

The victim needs rest - it is best to lay him in a dry shaded place. Give him as much water as possible, if it is not there, any other drinks will do, but nonalcoholic, as alcohol only increases the severity of pain after a bite.

To reduce the manifestation of an individual reaction, give the affected person antihistaminesFor example, Suprastin, Tavegil, Zodak, or any other.

About what snakes are found in the Crimea, see the following video.