Nature - Wild Life - Snake Life - Natrix natrix - Grass Snake - The Ringed Snake - Water Snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.
In defence they can produce a garlic-smelling fluid from the anal glands, and feign death (thanatosis) by becoming completely limp, when they may also secrete blood (autohaemorrhage) from the mouth and nose. They may also perform an aggressive display in defence, hissing and striking without opening the mouth. They rarely bite in defense and lack venomous fangs. When caught they often regurgitate the contents of their stomachs. Grass snakes display a rare defensive behavior involving raising the front of the body and flattening the head and neck so that it resembles a cobra's hood, although the geographic ranges of grass snakes and of cobras overlap very little. However, the fossil record shows that the extinct European cobra Naja romani occurs in Miocene-aged strata of France, Germany, Austria, Romania, and Ukraine and thus overlapped with Natrix species including the extinct Natrix longivertebrata, suggesting that the grass snake's behavioral mimicry of cobras is a fossil behavior, although it may protect against predatory birds which migrate to Africa for the winter and encounter cobras there. Funny snake and very interesting behaviour. People often keep them as pets. Can grow up to 140 cm, but that size is rarely encountered. Usually 1 meter in length. In the video, the illusion may appear that I hit him with that small thin tree branch, but I didn't hit him, I touched him lightly.
15 апр 2024
