Tiger snake: a snake with poisonous skin (10 photos)

Many snakes have poisonous fangs - and that's more than enough to keep your distance from them. But what if I told you that there are TWICE poisonous snakes! Tiger snakes spray poison not only from their fangs, but also from their skin!





Come on, warm me up!

The tiger snake is an Asian relative of the grass snake. It lives in the Far East, China, Japan, and Korea. It is completely different from the snake we are used to. Being a tiny reptile - no more than a meter - it is not afraid of others. The tiger snake makes those around it tremble in front of it! The olive-green outfit with black stripes becomes bright orange closer to the head. The snake does not try to blend in with the terrain. It declares: I am here, and I am cool. Stay away from me! Such a manifesto is quite justified, because the tiger snake is a doubly poisonous reptile.



The tiger snake is a cousin of the common grass snake. Both belong to the family of colubrids, but belong to different genera.

Almost no one risks attacking the tiger snake. Large predators don't even see this show-off as prey - there would be something to try for. And smaller meat-eaters: raccoon dogs, martens and small birds - don't want to take risks. Hunting a tiger snake can end very badly: loss of smell, severe poisoning and convulsions.





Hey, have you lost your sense of smell? No? Well, you're going to lose it now!

The snake honestly warns of its toxicity in the first line of defense. Bright coloring, angry hissing, threatening pose. The snake does not seek to fight - it is in the interests of both parties to part peacefully. If the enemy is not impressed by the demonstration, the snake submissively bows its head and offers its neck. But not to surrender. But to attack!



If the silhouette of the tiger snake reminds you of the silhouette of a cobra, you are not imagining things. The snake really does inflate the skin on its neck, like a cobra does, to seem larger. True, its hood is not as spectacular.

The tiger snake uses its nucho-dorsal glands. They are located on the back of the head and contain a potent cocktail of polyhydroxylated steroids. No, not the steroids that jocks inject, but others that are especially toxic. Under the influence of the muscles, the glands contract, the reptile's skin is saturated with poison. It tastes disgusting, causes vomiting, paralysis and even death - it all depends on the dosage. Having tried the snake once, they immediately spit it out and draw conclusions.



Well, now you can't even lick the snakes! How so!

What's interesting is that the snake cannot produce the dangerous compound on its own. It steals it! The snake catches and eats Far Eastern and common toads, whose skin already contains toxic substances. The reptile does not poison itself, but cleverly processes the poison and stores it in special glands on its neck. A reasonable question arises - how dangerous is this whole system for humans? Not at all. If you do not lick the snake, then there is nothing to be afraid of.



Returns the poison back. With interest.

Tiger snakes also have a third line of defense - poisonous teeth. But snakes use them extremely rarely. Because the main purpose of fangs is to obtain food. The reptile's teeth are located deep in the mouth. Snakes are practically unable to bite for self-defense, especially if we are talking about a large enemy, for example, a person. In order for the poison to enter the body, the tiger snake must swallow the victim and chew it thoroughly. Their poisonous teeth are primitively designed - there is no duct inside through which the poison enters. The toxins simply flow down the fang into the wound - and this takes a very long time and is not very effective. This is why in the entire history of observations, only one case of poisoning after a bite has been recorded.



A typical office team is gathering for a meeting.

Let's summarize: for self-defense, the snake uses glands on the neck, and for hunting small cold-blooded frogs, toads, fish - poison in the mouth. And by the way, the composition of these poisons is different. If it steals steroid toxins, then it produces the second, dental poison, itself. It consists of phospholipases. These toxins destroy cell walls, damage blood vessels and cause hemorrhages. Yes, it sounds scary, but the poison is effective against specific types of prey. In humans, it causes allergies at most.



The tiger snake's favorite places are the banks of water bodies: rivers, lakes, swamps, ponds. After all, all of its prey is found there!

The reptile obtains poison not only for itself, but also for its children! The offspring are born already armed, and this is solely the merit of the mother. The father makes his contribution only once, from May to August, when the breeding season takes place. After mating, he crawls away to look for females by pheromones, and the expectant mother begins to intensively hunt for poisonous toads.



You look at me, I look at you - a spark, a storm, madness.

Far Eastern grass snakes carry from 8 to 22 eggs. During the month and a half of pregnancy, the mother's poison penetrates through the shell to the embryos and accumulates in their neck glands. Then she leaves the clutch in a pile of rotten leaves, an old stump or in someone's old hole and crawls away to put on fat before hibernation.



All the best for the children!

The grass snakes hatch in a month and immediately become independent. They also need to gain weight before hibernation and molt several times. In a year, next spring, they themselves will be able to take part in the breeding season.