Shtomurtnik ordinary: habitat, snake habits

The scytophyll is a small poisonous reptile. In length, his body, given the tail, rarely grows eighty-five centimeters. The upper part of the body is painted in a dark brown color, broken by light strips remotely resembling zigzags. The belly is the lightest part of the body. Head is large. If you look at it from above, it seems somewhat flattened. On the top of the muzzle are the scutes. It was because of them that the snake got its name - the mackerel common.

Habitat of the snake

Ordinary, or Pallas, shtomurtnik, as it is called in another way, has a fairly wide area of residence. The snake lives in the far Caucasus, in mysterious Mongolia, in the north of Iran. She was seen in the middle part of Asia, as well as in Korea and China. In Russia, the common sclerotum lives in large numbers in the Lower Volga region, right up to the borders of the Far East.

The point environment of reptile living is very diverse. This species of vertebrates can not be called absolute steppe or only mountainous. It does not live exclusively in forests. Shtomurtnik is equally found in both green massifs and in the vast expanses of steppes, in semi-deserts. The reptile lives in regions rich in marshes, and also in meadows near the beautiful Alps. It has a weakness for river banks. If you look at the mountains, then there can be found shtomurtnik at an altitude of up to three thousand meters.

Activity of the Shieldwoman

Ordinary shtomerdnik reaches peak of an active way of life immediately after the termination of wintering, that is in the first months of spring. It was at that time of year that they behave extremely aggressively. This behavior in the spring can be explained by the start of the mating season. Until the beginning of summer, the mackerel ordinary sticks to the daily lifestyle. It can be found after bathing in the rays of the heavenly body.

With the onset of summer, the regime changes dramatically. The snake begins to crawl out after the twilight falls to the ground. During the daytime she prefers to hide from the sun in dark places, for example, in the holes of field mice, thick bushes, crevices between the stones. With the onset of the first cold weather, the mice begin to actively look for a place where they will spend the winter. The time when a snake stops active life activity, directly depends on the region in which it lives. In the Russian Federation, as a rule, the screenworm plunges into hibernation somewhere in early October.

What does the snake eat?

As the night approaches, the Shield-mongrel is selected from the shelter and proceeds to search for prey. These snakes eat all animals that they can conquer and swallow. A significant part of their diet is occupied by various rodents: field mice, shrews and others. Quite often a reptile devours a nest of small birds that build houses on the ground or not very high from it. The shchetomordik swallows both the bird itself and eggs with chicks. In addition, he catches lizards, frogs or toads. Attacking snakes, having a smaller size, for a mackerel is a common thing. Newborns eat insects.

This reptile does not necessarily have to fight with a potential victim. As a rule, their hunting passes according to the following principle. The snake creeps up to the prey, with a sharp throw gets to it, then bites, injecting a dose of poison into the body. The frightened victim tries to escape, but the poison kills her faster than she has time to retire. On the head of the scrotum there is a special thermosensitive fossa. With its help, the snake finds the deceased victim, catching the heat emanating from her body.

Reproduction of the Shieldwoman

Female of this species of reptiles, as well as a significant proportion of other viper snakes, are viviparous. Newborn snakes appear in the light in thin translucent sacs, from which they immediately get rid of. One female is able to bring from two to twelve cubs. The color of small shield mice is exactly the same as the color of the parent. In the first period of life, babies eat small invertebrate animals. Growing up, they turn to victims of larger sizes. Large enough can be an adult pincer Pallasov. The body length can reach eighty centimeters.

Venom snake

Shtomurtnik ordinary is a poisonous snake. Its poison in its effect on the body resembles a viper bite. In the first place, the poison affects the blood. However, in the constituent components of the poison are neurotoxins. They have a direct negative effect on the state of the nervous system, and still cause paralysis of the respiratory system. For a person, the bite of a shiner is in most cases not fatal. But the incidents with a fatal outcome were still fixed. The venom of this snake is dangerous for people suffering from respiratory diseases.