Overview and characteristics of snakes that are found in 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 you need to do during an attack, and how to provide first aid to a victim with a bite.

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

The reptile has a rather characteristic appearance. The body length of an adult varies from 40 to 58 cm, as a rule, females are slightly larger than males. The snake resembles the most ordinary viper, the only difference is the pointed muzzle, slightly elongated forward. The hue of the skin 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 subtle grayish spots may vary. Absolutely black reptiles are extremely rare here.

Like all other vipers, steppe venom is characterized by a hemolytic effect, that is, it has the ability to change the composition of blood and destroy the walls of blood vessels (it is this property of snake venom that is used in pharmacology when creating drugs for thrombophlebitis). In the place of the bite, strong pain, swelling and redness almost immediately appear, in the case of severe individual intolerance, the hand may even begin to turn blue. Often the temperature rises and a febrile state appears.

This snake cannot be called poisonous, but, without a 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.

The yellow-bellied snake has very impressive dimensions - up to two meters in length, it has a large head and strong teeth, so it is not difficult for the snake to bite through human skin.

When this snake attacks, a painful sensation occurs, but usually there is no need for medical assistance - the wounds themselves are healed within two to three days, however, a small scar remains as a keepsake.

Quite often, snakes become real victims of human prejudice.

This is a relatively small snake, the length of which rarely exceeds 80 cm. Coloring can be very diverse - most often brownish-reddish individuals with a slight metallic tint are found, but in the Crimea you can find gray, dark brown, and even completely black copperheads. A common feature of each of the snakes with this name are eyes with a pronounced transverse feature.

The copperfish has no poison, and its teeth are very small, even the largest individuals during an attack can only slightly scratch the skin. The intensity of such an injury can be compared with the result of the easy prank of a small kitten, such damage usually heals in a couple of days without the use of any medications. Young snakes are unable even to damage the skin.

Some Crimean reptiles are automatically classified as poisonous on the grounds that they are too beautiful. We can say that this is a kind of medieval witch hunt, only in a different guise. The leopard snake also belongs to such victims of the reservation.

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

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

A leopard snake can bite but such wounds do not carry any danger. 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 do not carry any danger to humans, which can not be said about the reptiles themselves. Nowadays, the animal is actively exterminated: some kill snakes “just in case”, others catch for the sake of getting expensive skins, and still others keep them in domestic terrariums.

The usual one is well known to everyone - it is a snake of a dark shade with characteristic and easily distinguishable spots of white or yellow in color on both sides of the head. Such snakes prefer moist places, feed on frogs and mice.

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

It is much worse if one already uses the means of a “chemical attack” to defeat an attacker - sometimes an angry snake simply spills out the entire contents of its intestines on a person.The smell will be disgusting, it is impossible to remove it in any way, while it is highly resistant - lasts a week or more.

In Crimea, there are not many places where you can meet poisonous snakes. For example, in the mountains there are none, if only in a clearing or a small section of the steppe at its foot. Directly in stones and rocks reptiles are not found.

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

In most cases, snakebites do not pose any threat to humans, so all treatment is reduced to the usual disinfection of the wound. The only exception is the bite of the steppe viper, however, and it does not pose a real risk to people. In the vast majority of cases, a person recovers without the use of special therapeutic methods of treatment within 2-5 days. Nevertheless, contact with this reptile is best avoided.

If you notice a snake, then try to stay calm and move away, in no case tease the animal - no need to beat her with a stick, grab by the tail and twist, no need to take pictures with a reptile, all this most often ends with a bite.

If such an unpleasant event happened, the main thing - do not panic! Blood may appear from the wound, you can feel the condition worsen, 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, you can significantly alleviate the condition of the bitten.

The most effective serum is, but it is not available in every first-aid post, and attacks, as a rule, occur far from urban settlements where doctors work, so first aid will have to be provided on the spot. First of all, you need to suck the poison out of the wound - keep in mind that this can only be done 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 is broken down in the stomach and excreted along with urine from the body.

The victim needs peace - it is best to put him in a dry, shaded place. Give him as much water as possible, if not, any other drinks are suitable, but be surely non-alcoholic, since alcohol only enhances the severity of pain symptoms after a bite.

To reduce the degree of manifestation of an individual reaction, give the victim antihistaminesfor example, Suprastin, Tavegil, Zodak, or any other.

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