Animals and plants of New Zealand are the unique nature of the country. Animals and plants of New Zealand - the unique nature of the country Are there snakes in Iceland
Almost everyone fears or dislikes snakes. There are three types of people: 1% love snakes (they pick them up, play with them, have them at home), 94% would like to stay away from them. And there are 5% who are afraid of snakes more than anything else. Everyone has a friend like this: nod at any string - oh, snake! And that’s it, he already squeals and runs away in horror. It's easier for them to die than to stay in a room with snakes. But how much do we know about snakes? The majority knows almost nothing - let's fix that.
Actually, snakes kill people all the time.
Do you think it is very rare and exotic to die from a snake bite? It depends where you live. If you live in India, bad news: more than 80 thousand people are bitten by vipers and cobras every year, and 10 thousand of them die. This is the most dangerous region in terms of snake activity and aggressiveness. Obviously, somewhere in Vermont the chances of encountering a snake are much less, but we implore you - watch your step, wherever you are.Is there a place on Earth completely without snakes?
The general rule is: the colder it is, the fewer snakes there are. It’s almost safe in the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, but you can’t go there on vacation. Few snakes in Iceland, Ireland and New Zealand. Some countries are full of snakes, but generally most are non-venomous. It is important for you to know that the snakes themselves do not want to meet you at all; they avoid people with all their might. Actually, there's another great way to avoid snakes: stay home.
Vessey's Snake, Maine's Favorite
One of the places where there are no poisonous snakes is the American state of Maine. But they have a snake known as Vessie (similar to Nessie, the Loch Ness monster). They say she is as long as a huge truck and has a head the size of a football. Fear, of course, has big eyes. The press reported: "A snake was seen in the park area feasting on a large mammal - probably a beaver." What a great place, right in the park, next to the playgrounds, snakes the size of trucks eating beavers! This is where you should go on vacation - adventures are guaranteed.
Don't mess with the black Mamba
If you've ever seen Tarantino's Kill Bill, you probably remember the mention of the black mamba as the most dangerous snake. Most herpentological experts agree: the black mamba is the most dangerous of all snakes in the world. Why is the mamba a symbol of horror? What's so scary about it? In addition to its strong poison, the black mamba is damn fast and fast, reaching speeds of over 11 km/h over short distances. But that's not the main thing. Its open mouth is black on the inside and to many it seems like a coffin, which instantly makes it creepy. The mamba lives in Africa, so walk there with double caution.
Does the snake eye have no eyelids?
The unblinking gaze of a cold-blooded killer...fear has big eyes, what people can’t come up with! So why don't snakes blink? It turns out that it’s not because they don’t have eyelids. Snakes have eyelids, you just can’t see them - they are transparent and fused. The thin skin that protects the eyes comes off together with the snake's skin in one "stocking" when molting. So the hypnotizing gaze of a snake is a pure myth.
Lebanese commandos are so tough they eat live snakes
During the annual ceremony, Lebanese commandos tear live snakes with their teeth. The senseless cruelty is intended to confirm their willingness to defeat the enemy with their bare hands. Yeah, that's probably true: if you can tear apart and eat a live snake, then you can probably do a whole bunch of super-tough stuff on the battlefield. There's no time for jokes here, poor snakes.
It was no coincidence that Voldemort called Nagini that way
Nagini is a huge poisonous one that belongs to Lord Voldemort. In Sanskrit and North Indian languages, naga means "king cobra" and naginii is feminine, female cobra. In "Harry Potter" there is a clear reference to the character of Kipling's fairy tale "Riki-tiki-tavi", where the king cobra was called Nagana (actually that cobra was called "Naked", because Kipling almost all the names of animals are just their names in Hindi) . The transliteration “Nagaina” has taken root in the Russian translation, and it was this that was included in “Riki-Tiki-Tavi” and in “Harry Potter”.
What do rattlesnakes rattle?
Something, a rattle, of course! And not just like that, the rattlesnake seems to say: I’m here, don’t step on it, stay away from me! When a rattlesnake is excited, its tail vibrates and rattles the rings at the end of the tail hitting each other. The result is a sharp buzzing sound. It can be heard at a distance of 20 meters and can be avoided by the snake.
Fairytale boomslangs exist
The boomslang snake, whose skin someone was always trying to steal from Snape's laboratory in Harry Potter, actually exists (boomslang skin is an important ingredient in witchcraft potions, for example, it is part of Polyjuice Potion). Its name comes from the African boomslang and means "tree snake". The boomeslang's green eyes have excellent vision, and the snakes almost always manage to avoid encounters with humans. But if they are caught, they sting. There are even several deaths reported as a result of a boomslang bite.
Titanoboa were the largest snakes on Earth
Those who are afraid of snakes probably don’t need to imagine what titanoboa mastodons looked like (although they would be better off not reading this post at all). Titanoboa snakes are long extinct; they lived on Earth approximately 58 million years ago. They were huge: the length reached 15 meters, the girth of the body was about a meter, and the weight was more than a ton. Unfortunately, we are not destined to meet such beauty in reality, but there are models of giants in several museums.
Snake with a coin
The Barbados narrow-mouthed snake or "Charles' snake" is the smallest in the world. An adult baby snake is no longer than 10 centimeters. They live only on the island of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea. They are completely harmless, they don’t even have teeth. Apparently this is why the snake is on the verge of extinction (or because the forests where they lived were all cut down). And it was named by the American biologist Hedge in honor of his wife, herpentologist Carla Ann Hass, about whose character history is silent.
Taipans are the most poisonous
Australian inland taipan, also called the "fierce snake". If you want to look at taipans, they live in the central part of Australia. This is the most poisonous of land snakes; the venom in one bite is enough to kill a hundred people. So, it’s probably better not to meet with them, they are very fast: when they see danger, they raise their heads and sting with lightning speed several times in a row. Before the invention of the antidote in 1955, 90% of their victims died from the bite of taipans.
The snake's heart is mobile inside its body
The snake's heart is not fixed: due to the lack of a diaphragm, the snake's heart is mobile and is able to move inside its body, dodging damage when something large goes down the esophagus. So if a snake eats something really huge, its heart will just roll away and then come back. The cardiovascular system of snakes has a unique system where blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart. Isn’t it true how wisely nature arranged everything?
The unique arrangement of internal organs is not at all human
This is exactly what you didn’t know: unlike the paired human organs, which are located symmetrically, the internal organs of a snake have an elongated shape, are completely asymmetrical and single. Some of the snake organs used to have a pair, but during the process of evolution they lost their significance and became unpaired. Most snakes have only one lung, the second is usually rudimentarily developed.
Deadly poisonous or slightly toxic - it is better not to experiment
The venom of a viper and a cobra, of course, is different from what a girlfriend might pour into your glass. Eaten poison and a poisonous snake bite somewhere in the neck are two different things, and in the second case the action occurs many times faster. Whether it is toxic or deadly is never known for sure, and individual reactions to a poison can be unpredictable. We hope you never have to find out about this in real life. And remember that the snake cannot harm you if it is at a distance. Watch your step, stay away from snakes and take care of yourself!
If you hate snakes and want to avoid encountering them at all costs, you should definitely go to New Zealand. After all, snakes are simply prohibited there (so much so that even their very existence is illegal).
Not only does this mean that you will never find a snake in the New Zealand wild (even if you do, it will soon be mercilessly destroyed). You can't keep snakes as pets there either. They are prohibited from being kept in zoos, research institutions or anywhere else. However, the owner of the snake will not get off with a small fine - just ask Nathan Bush.
In 2011, Bush purchased a pet snake. When she was discovered, he was brought to trial and sentenced to four months in prison. That's how serious New Zealand is about snakes. Essentially, if a New Zealander simply becomes aware of the existence of a snake in their country, they are legally obligated to report it to the authorities to help keep the country completely free of these reptiles.
Snakes are completely absent, at least on land in New Zealand. Fighting their sea counterparts, as you understand, is a little more difficult. Land snake species are not allowed into the country because none of them are native to the New Zealand islands.
New Zealand is famous for many things, including as the “land of the hobbits” (it was in this country that the film “The Lord of the Rings” was filmed). And, as it turns out, you can find a hissing Gollum there rather than a real snake. This is simply surprising given its proximity to southern Australia, home to some of the world's most dangerous snakes.
New Zealand is one of the few areas in the world where there are no snakes at all. Besides it, these are Greenland, Antarctica and partly the Hawaiian Islands. So if you are afraid of creepy crawlies, now you know where to go on holiday!
Snakes are reptiles that live on every continent except the ice-clad Antarctica, where cold-blooded creatures simply cannot survive. Ireland is an island, and there are not a single snake here, despite the fact that in Great Britain, on the island located literally next door, they are found. The distance between them is about 80 km, they have very similar flora and fauna, and climatic conditions. In any case, an inquisitive person will wonder why snakes are found on one island and have been found for thousands of years, while on another they have never been found in the entire history of mankind.
If you think about it, consider the geological past of the planet, it will not be difficult to answer the question. The answer can be found by considering the planet's ice ages.
Ice ages and the spread of reptiles
Reptiles, as cold-blooded creatures, are attached to warmth, to the opportunity to warm up at least in the short summer, otherwise they cannot be mobile, cannot exist. Ice ages occur periodically; the exact interval is not clear to scientists, but geological surveys allow us to make some assumptions. Every few million years, the climate on the planet becomes colder, the polar ice caps move further south, covering larger areas, and then, with warming, retreat.
The last time the ice shells grew was about 110 thousand years ago, and about 10 thousand years ago they began to retreat, freeing Britain in particular. Since the lands in northern Europe and the nearby islands again became fertile, the migration of people and animals to these spaces began. While the water level was low due to the fact that not all the ice had melted, and part of the water of the World Ocean was contained in glaciers, excellent conditions were created for the settlement of living beings. They easily entered the territories, which became islands when the water level rose, via land bridges.
Interesting:
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The bridge between the future island of Great Britain and Ireland was the first to be flooded; during this period, there were still many glaciers here that prevented the normal functioning of the snakes. Britain was connected to the mainland for about 2 thousand years, during which time the climate managed to become even milder, snakes were able to move to the island from the mainland before the formation of the English Channel. But they could not get to Ireland; it had already been separated by ocean waters.
The Legend of Snakes and St. Patrick
Besides the scientific explanation, there is also a legend that tells how St. Patrick drove the snakes off the island. A Christian legend tells that the saint gathered snakes on Mount Crow, ordering them to throw themselves into the waters. But the oldest, cunning snake did not listen to him. Then Patrick argued with him that he could not fit in the chest because of his size. Proving the opposite, the snake climbed into the chest, where the saint closed it, and then also threw it into the water.
Interesting fact: Ireland is not the only island without snakes. They are not found on many other islands, even large ones - in Greenland, Hawaii, and New Zealand. They cannot swim long distances, with the only exception being sea snakes, which remain primarily in the water element.
Is it possible to bring snakes to places where there are none?
The modern climate of Ireland creates all the conditions for the habitat of reptiles, and in particular snakes. But they exist only within private collections, in zoos and terrariums. The fact is that introducing new species to places where they were not originally found and releasing them into the open environment of an established ecosystem is extremely fraught. They can cause serious damage by changing the balance of already established food chains, destroying local species, exterminating them for food, or depriving them of natural prey, occupying places suitable for life and breeding.
According to the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries, which is responsible, among other things, for environmental safety, there are not a single land snake in this country. And the authorities want to maintain this state of affairs, so snakes are outlawed.
It's not just keeping or breeding land snakes that is illegal: even if you just saw a snake and didn't report it to the authorities, you could face a fine. There are no snakes in zoos or research laboratories. However, there are at least 2 species of sea snakes off the coast of New Zealand, but they are not counted because they spend their entire lives in the water.
Apart from New Zealand, snakes are not found in Greenland, Antarctica and some of the Hawaiian Islands.
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They are animals - no one denies this. However, in addition to searching for pictures of Grumpy Cat or adorable pugs, we use our time on the Internet to search for other animals. In this list, we will tell you which animals are the most searched on Google or the most popular in the US trend since 2014. In addition, we will tell you some interesting facts about them so that you will have something to surprise your friends. So, we present to you the twenty-five most popular animals in Google search.
25. Bison
Despite only being the 129th most searched animal in 2014, the bison made it into the top 10 trending animals last year. The American bison was driven to near extinction by hunting in the 1800s, but has since recovered largely due to the commercial raising of bison for meat.
24. Dolphin
Dolphins, being very intelligent animals, are also very social - they help sick or injured members of their pod to rise to the surface of the water for air and can even change their pod.
Although the bald eagle is best known to Americans, there are about 60 species of eagles in the world, most of which live in Eurasia and Africa - 44 species. There are only two endemic species in North America - the bald eagle and the golden eagle.
22. Pony
A pony is a small horse, however, contrary to popular belief, it is not a foal or a young horse. It is likely that these horses developed shorter legs, thicker manes, and smaller bone structure due to living at the very edges of areas suitable for horse survival.
21. Apes
The easiest way to distinguish an ape from a normal monkey is by looking at its backside - apes do not have a tail. Africa's great apes are currently under threat, mainly due to the spread of the Ebola virus.
20. Lobster
At the bottom of the top 20 searched animals on Google is the lobster, which can live up to 70 years. Unlike humans, lobsters do not become weaker with age; on the contrary, they become more fertile.
