Are there snakes eating snakes? a brief description of

Snakes, the characteristics of which are given in the framework of this article, all without exception in nature are predators. You will not find any herbivorous species among them. The menu of these reptiles is quite diverse: they feed on almost everything that moves. But even among snakes there are gourmets who prefer ... other snakes! You did not misinterpret: snakes eating snakes are not an exception, but a regularity.

Who are snakes?

Snakes are called a kind of group of animals that represent a class of reptiles, or reptiles. They are represented by a single detachment - Scaly. All of them are predators. However, among the huge variety of these animals there are both innocuous and lovely creatures, and creatures that present a serious danger to other animals and, of course, people.

Where do snakes live?

Snakes feeding on snakes, as well as all their other species, are found by humans on virtually all continents of the globe. Exceptions are Antarctica, some large (New Zealand, Ireland) and small islands of the Atlantic Ocean and the central Pacific Ocean. Currently, on our planet there are more than 3000 kinds of all kinds of snakes. About a quarter of them are poisonous. By the way, all of them are united into 14 families.

Why do they need poison?

As we noted above, non-poisonous snakes are represented by a large number of species, rather than poisonous snakes . Nevertheless, it is not necessary to write off the snakes that are dangerous for humans. As the name suggests, poisonous reptiles use a toxic substance - poison. He needs them first of all for hunting this or that victim, and not for self-defense, as it is commonly believed. The poison of some of them is so toxic that it will easily kill a person. That's why snakes in nature are a real creeping deadly weapon!

Snake skin

As a rule, the whole body of the snake is covered with skin, or scales. Here it is worth making a very important observation. Contrary to the established opinion, the skin of these creatures is absolutely dry, not mucous and damp, as is commonly believed in the people. Perhaps, such confusion arose because of the conditional similarity of snakes with slippery and wet earthworms.

The absolute majority of snakes has a specific structure of the skin on the abdomen. This is necessary for them to better grip from the surface on which they creep. Some people believe that these reptiles have no age. This is not true. They are, but not like in many animals. The eyelids of snakes are represented by transparent scales and are always closed.

Are there snakes of white color?

They exist. But not as an independent species, but as genetically unique individuals. In other words, the white snake is the most common albino. The best known are Californian albinos. Scientists say that in the near future they can occupy about 70% of the entire inhabited territory in the Canary Islands.

White snake is a rare specimen in nature. It can occur in any of the families of these reptiles - from harmless horror to black mamba or royal cobra! Do not confuse these albinos with dairy snakes, because the latter have a completely different coloration of the body.

What do snakes eat?

As we already noted above, snakes in nature eat practically everything that only moves. They professionally hunt frogs, rats, shrews, mouse rodents, grasshoppers, birds, antelopes, wild boars, crocodiles, etc. When the snake starts to swallow the victim, it spreads the so-called branches of the lower jaw quite widely. If the extraction is large, the reptile can swallow it for an hour.

For example, large snakes (mesh python, anaconda, water boa) first choke their prey with the help of rings of their body, and only then they are swallowed whole and gradually. One of the most favorite delicacies of these reptiles are the eggs of birds. Small snakes, on the contrary, do not use strangulation techniques and certainly do not wait for their prey to die. They eat small vertebrates and invertebrate animals still alive.

No wonder they say that any exception confirms the rule. Here and among the snakes there are exceptions. Although they eat everything, some of them are very picky in choosing food. For example, a green North American snake eats only spiders, caterpillars, fish and birds. This creature will not touch the mice or lizards for anything. And small water snakes devour only frogs and fish, and terrestrial mammals prefer not to touch at all.

Snakes feeding on snakes

The most famous cannibal is the most dangerous among all snakes - the royal cobra. The diet of her diet, in addition to small mammals and amphibians, also consists of her own relatives. The royal cobra enjoys eating smaller snakes. She first kills the victim by poison or by strangulation, and then swallows it.

Not so long ago, scientists discovered another fact of cannibalism among snakes, in particular, rattlesnake. The fact is that these creatures eat their own offspring. Scientists believe that this phenomenon can not be attributed to the pathology of rattlesnakes and should not be considered as infanticide, because they feed exclusively on dead cubs. That is, some rattlesnakes are not only cannibals, but scavengers.

Many people do not believe that there are snake-cannibals in nature. However, in nature, what does not exist! Snakes that feed on snakes are not uncommon and not even an exception. This is a regularity. If, for example, lizards can eat their young, why can not snakes taste their own kind? Even well-known to all of us, on occasion, can eat ... an adder! Here is such a natural selection.