Despite the fact that today a meeting in the forest or in the field with a poisonous snake is a rarity, sometimes it does happen. More often hunters, fishermen and mushroom pickers intersect with a snake, which many mistakenly mistake for a viper. And the thing is that there is a significant similarity between them. In order not to endanger yourself at a meeting, you need to know how to distinguish a snake from a viper. To do this, we compare these two reptiles.
Appearance
An adult can reach a length of one and a half, or even two meters, although on average sizes range from 75 cm to 1 m. The color is mostly gray or black, sometimes it is olive with stains that are staggered. A change of colors can be seen on the body of the snake: the farther from the head, the darker the color. In order to know how to distinguish a snake from an adder, it is necessary to remember that a special feature of all snakes is the presence of light spots on the head, they can be yellow, orange or white. They are located in the ear area, so they are also called "yellow ears." The head is oval, the pupils of the eyes are round. The tail of the snake is elongated and thin. They have no toxic teeth.
Distinctive features of the viper
This snake is smaller in size, on average, the body length is about 50 cm. The color can be very diverse, including black. Trying to determine how to distinguish a snake from a viper, you need to know that only by color it will not succeed. There is another feature characteristic of vipers - it is a dark zigzag on the back, passing through the entire body. Their tail is shorter, and their body is thicker than that of a snake. The head has a triangular shape, the pupils are placed vertically.
Habitat
Snakes prefer to settle in damp places. They are good swimmers, they can often be found near ponds and swamps. But the main reason for this choice of habitat is the presence of frogs, a favorite treat of snakes. Shelter for them are stones, tree roots, small burrows. The viper feeds mainly on field mice and other rodents. Therefore, its habitat is either high steppe grass, or dense shrubbery in the forest, where there is an opportunity to hide from uninvited guests. A different habitat also allows you to answer the question of how to distinguish a snake from a viper. They say that where snakes live, there can be no vipers. But, apparently, this is not quite the right opinion, naturalists often had to see how both representatives of the snake genus warmed themselves peacefully in the sun nearby.
Different tempers
Another difference from the viper is its aggressiveness. Their characters are completely different. It will never be the first to attack a person. Defending himself, he will imitate an attack and imitate the behavior of a viper. Seeing the futility of his attempts to free himself, he can pretend to be dead. With great danger, an unpleasant smell exudes, which scares off many animals. The viper behaves much more aggressively. It is worth provoking it, and she immediately attacks, and completely ignoring the dimensions of her enemy.
Summarize and remember
The difference between a viper and a snake is as follows:
- the adder is smaller in size;
- it already has “yellow ears”, a zigzag strip runs along the back of the viper;
- a triangular head in a viper, oval in a snake;
- the pupils are round in the ears, the vertical ones in the viper;
- snakes prefer to live near ponds, vipers in forests;
- the vipers are aggressive, in a hurry to hide.
