50 interesting facts about New Zealand animals. Why are there no snakes in Ireland? Where on earth there are no snakes
Almost everyone fears or dislikes snakes. There are three types of people: 1% love snakes (pick up, play with, wind up at home), 94% would like to stay away from them. And there are 5% who are afraid of snakes more than anything. Everyone has such a friend: nod at any string - oh, snake! And that's it, he is already squealing and running away in horror. It's easier to die like that than to stay in a room with snakes. But how much do we know about snakes? Most people know next to nothing - let's fix that.
In fact, snakes kill people all the time.
Do you think it is very rare and exotic - death from a snakebite? It depends where you live. If you live in India, the bad news is that more than 80,000 people are bitten by vipers and cobras every year, and 10,000 of them die. This is the most dangerous region in terms of snake activity and aggressiveness. It is clear that somewhere in Vermont the chances of meeting a snake are much less, but we beg you - watch your steps, wherever you are.Is there a place on earth without snakes?
The general rule is: the colder, the fewer snakes. Almost safe in the Arctic Circle and in Antarctica, but you won’t run into it on vacation. Few snakes in Iceland, Ireland and New Zealand. Some countries are full of snakes, but generally most are not 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. In fact, there is another great way to avoid snakes: stay at home.
Vessey's Snake, Maine's Pet
One of the places where there are no poisonous snakes is the US state of Maine. But they have a snake known as Wessie (consonant with Nessie, the Loch Ness monster). They say she is as long as a huge truck and her head is the size of a soccer ball. Of course, fear has big eyes. The press reported: "A snake was seen in a park area feasting on a large mammal - probably a beaver." What a great place, right in the park, next to the playgrounds, truck sized snakes eat beavers! This is where you need to go on vacation - adventures are guaranteed.
Don't mess with the black mamba
If you've seen Tarantino's Kill Bill, you probably remember the black mamba as the most dangerous snake. Most herpentologist experts agree: the black mamba is the most dangerous snake in the world. Why is the mamba the symbol of horror? What's so scary about her? In addition to 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 point. Her open mouth is black on the inside, and to many she looks like a coffin, which is instantly terrifying. Mamba lives in Africa, so walk there with double caution.
The serpent's eye is devoid of eyelids?
The unblinking gaze of a cold-blooded killer... fear has big eyes, which people can't imagine! So why don't snakes blink? It turns out that it’s not at all because they don’t have eyelids. Snakes have eyelids, they just can't be seen - they are transparent and fused. The thin skin that protects the eyes, when shedding, comes off with the skin of the snake in one "stocking". So the snake's hypnotic gaze is pure myth.
Lebanese commandos are so tough they eat live snakes
During the annual ceremony, Lebanese special forces tear live snakes with their teeth. Senseless cruelty is intended to confirm their readiness to defeat the enemy with their bare hands. Yeah, that's probably true: if you can rip 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, poor snakes.
Voldemort did not accidentally call Nagini that
Nagini - a huge poisonous one, owned by Lord Voldemort. In Sanskrit and North Indian languages, naga means "king cobra" and naginii is feminine, the female cobra. In "Harry Potter" - 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 "Nagimi", because Kipling has almost all the names of animals - just their names in Hindi) . In the Russian translation, the transliteration "Nagini" has taken root, it was she who entered the "Riki-Tiki-Tavi" and "Harry Potter".
What do rattlesnakes rattle?
Something, a rattle, of course! And not just like that, the rattlesnake, as it were, says: I'm here, don't step on, stay away from me! When a rattlesnake is excited, its tail vibrates and rattles the rings at the end of its tail hitting each other. The result is a harsh buzzing sound. It can be heard at a distance of 20 meters and bypass the snake side.
Fabulous boomslangs exist
The boomslang snake, the skin of which someone always tried 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 the Polyjuice Potion). Its name comes from the African boomslang and means "tree snake". The green eyes of the boomeslang see perfectly, and the snakes almost always have time to avoid meeting with a person. But if they are caught, they sting. There are even a few deaths reported as a result of a boomslang bite.
Titanoboas were the largest snakes on Earth
Those with a fear of snakes probably don't need to imagine what titanoboa mastodons looked like (although they'd better not read this post at all). Titanoboa snakes have long since died out, they lived on Earth about 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 "Karl's 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. Completely harmless, they don't even have teeth. Apparently, therefore, the snake is on the verge of extinction (or because the forests where they lived were cut down). And it was named by the American biologist Hedge in honor of his wife, herpentologist Carla Ann Hass, whose character history is silent.
Taipans are the most poisonous
Australian inland taipan, also called the "fierce snake". If you want to look at the taipans, they live in the central part of Australia. It is the most venomous of the land snakes, with enough venom in one bite to kill a hundred people. So, it’s probably better not to meet with them, they are very fast: at the sight of danger, they raise their heads and sting with lightning speed several times in a row. Before the invention of the antidote-antidote in 1955, 90% of their victims died from the bite of taipans.
The heart of a snake is movable inside its body.
The snake's heart is not fixed: due to the lack of a diaphragm, the snake's heart is mobile and able to move inside its torso, dodging damage when something large goes down the esophagus. So if a snake eats someone really big, its heart will just roll to the side and then come back. The circulatory system of snakes has a unique system - the 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
You didn’t know this for sure: unlike the paired organs of a person, located symmetrically, the internal organs of a snake are elongated, completely asymmetrical and single. Some of the snake organs used to have a pair, but in the process of evolution they lost their significance and became unpaired. Most snakes have only one lung, the second is usually rudimentary.
Deadly poisonous or slightly toxic - best not to experiment
The venom of a viper and a cobra is, of course, different from what a girlfriend can 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 takes place many times faster. Toxic or deadly, never known for sure, individual response to poison can be unpredictable. We hope you never find out about this in real life. And remember that a snake cannot harm you if it is at a distance. Watch your step, stay away from snakes and take care of yourself!
According to the New Zealand Department of Extractive Industries, which is responsible, among other things, for environmental safety, there is not a single terrestrial snake in this country. And the authorities want to keep this state of affairs, so snakes are outlawed.
It's not only illegal to keep or breed land snakes: even if you just saw a snake and didn't report it to the authorities, you face a fine. There are no snakes in zoos or in research laboratories. However, at least 2 species of sea snakes are found near the coast of New Zealand, but they are not considered, as 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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If you hate snakes and want to avoid 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).
This means not only that you will never find a snake in the New Zealand wild (even if you do, it will soon be mercilessly destroyed). It is also not allowed to have snakes as pets there. They are not allowed to be kept in zoos, research facilities or anywhere else. In this case, the owner of the snake will not get off with a small fine - just ask Nathan Bush about it.
Bush bought a pet snake in 2011. 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. In essence, if a New Zealander simply finds out about the existence of a snake in his country, he is required by law to report it to the authorities in order to help keep the country completely free of these reptiles.
Snakes are completely absent, at least on land in New Zealand. Fighting their sea brethren, as you know, is a little more difficult. Land snake species are not allowed in the country for the reason that 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 filming of the film “The Lord of the Rings” took place). And, as it turns out, there you can meet a hissing Gollum rather than a real snake. This is simply amazing, given the proximity to southern Australia - home to some of the most dangerous snakes in the world.
New Zealand is one of the few territories in the world where there are no snakes at all. In addition to her, these are Greenland, Antarctica and partially the Hawaiian Islands. So, if you are afraid of crawling reptiles, now you know where you should go on vacation!
Its uniqueness of the natural and animal world, rich in endemic plants and birds, is due to remoteness from other lands and long historical isolation for 60-80 million years.
2. About 1000 years ago, when there were no permanent residents on the islands, mammals did not live on the territory of New Zealand, except for two species of bats, as well as whales, sea lions and seals that lived in coastal waters.
3. The active formation of European settlements in the 19th century provoked the emergence of new animal species. During the settlement of New Zealand lands, dogs and rats appeared on the islands, and later Europeans brought goats, cows, pigs, cats and mice to New Zealand.
4. This has become a real test for the fauna of the islands. Rabbits, rats, ermines, ferrets and cats, which were brought for hunting, reached large sizes, because they had no natural enemies.
5. At present, the New Zealand wildlife authorities carefully control the fauna of New Zealand, and some areas have been completely rid of animals that pose a threat to the fauna and flora of the country.
New Zealand takahe bird
6. New Zealand has two types of endemic mammals that are descended from rare varieties of bats. Animals of New Zealand, which can be called the most prominent representatives of the fauna of this country: the kiwi bird, the world's largest owl parrot kakapo, one of the oldest reptiles - tuatara, the only mountain parrot kea, hatteria, European hedgehog.
7. Animals of New Zealand are also freshwater fish species, of which there are twenty-nine species. Eight of them are now on the verge of extinction.
8. Also, more than 40 species of ants live in this country.
9. For a long period of time it was believed that snakes did not live in New Zealand. But in the 2000s, a group of researchers from Australia and New Zealand discovered the remains of these reptiles. This discovery was proof that about 15-20 million years ago snakes still lived in New Zealand.
10. For what reason these animals became extinct is not known to this day. A number of scientists suggest that this happened due to the ice age. The snakes simply could not stand the cold, and since New Zealand is located at a fairly remote distance from civilization, new types of reptiles could not be brought here in time.
Kiwi bird
11. The symbol of New Zealand - kiwi - is positioned as a bird, although it cannot even fly, it lacks full-fledged wings.
12. Representatives of this kind of wingless do not have feathers, hair grows instead of them, they also have very powerful paws with which these creatures walk and run.
13. Kiwis are nocturnal animals. They developed the ability to hide in forests or bushes and to be nocturnal, which reduced the likelihood of being eaten by other animals. The main enemies of kiwi are birds - eagles and falcons.
14. They are very aggressive. By the way, kiwis do not defend themselves with their beaks, like birds, but use their sharp claws.
15. There are five types of kiwi.
Owl Parrot Kakapo
16. Kakapo is a single representative of the subfamily of owl parrots.
17. He has a very strongly developed facial plumage, so he has a resemblance to owls.
18. The feathers of a parrot are green with black stripes on the back. Kakapo has excellent wings, but due to the fact that the keel of the sternum is practically undeveloped, and the muscles are very weak, he cannot fly.
19. Previously, these endemics were widespread in New Zealand, but now they remain only in the southwestern part of the South Island. The parrot lives in forests and in areas with high humidity.
20. Kakapo is the only parrot that is predominantly nocturnal or twilight. In the daytime, it hides in burrows or crevices of rocks.
New Zealand tuatara
21. Tuatara is a unique animal of New Zealand, a descendant of dinosaurs.
22. It is protected at the legislative level, and the government is trying to prevent the extinction of the population, since there are only one hundred thousand reptiles left.
23. They have a lot of enemies, including themselves (male tuatars are considered cannibals, they can eat eggs and growing offspring). They are also attacked by birds and other predators.
24. In Tuatars, mortality exceeds the birth rate. It takes a long time to reproduce offspring.
25. These reptiles live up to about a hundred years. Tuatara's favorite food is insects.
Ermine
26. Ermine is a predatory animal, it has 34 sharp teeth and paws with tenacious claws. These animals are very agile and excellent at climbing trees. The stoat eats small rodents and birds.
27. The ermine was brought to New Zealand to control the rabbit population. But the animal successfully acclimatized and began to breed very intensively, which led to an increase in the population. So the ermine turned from an assistant into a pest that began to exterminate the chicks and eggs of local birds.
28. In New Zealand, they found the remains of flightless giant birds moi, exterminated more than five hundred years ago, whose height was three and a half meters.
Kangaroo New Zealand
29. There are also kangaroos here. These animals of New Zealand prefer to lead a nocturnal life and live in groups of several individuals. Many species of kangaroos are on the verge of extinction.
30. Animals in New Zealand that cannot survive on their own live in 14 national parks and hundreds of small reserves under the constant supervision of specialists. Almost all species of animals in this country are under state protection.
New Zealand giant skink
31. New Zealand lizards are skinks. There are three types of skinks: otago, suter and big skink.
32. They can often be seen on the rocks, where they bask in the sun. The number of large skinks alone, according to the Ministry of Nature Protection, is 2-3 thousand individuals.
33. Otago is a giant among endemic lizards and reaches 30 cm in length.
34. Skinks breed every year. The offspring is usually 3-6 cubs. Lizards feed on insects and fruits of plants.
35. Skinks have greenish-yellow skin with a striped pattern that provides excellent camouflage for rocky, lichen-covered environments.
New Zealand fur seal
36. New Zealand fur seal belongs to the species of eared seals. Their fur is greyish-brown in color. Males have a chic black mane.
37. These New Zealand animals live throughout the ocean, primarily on Macquarie Island. It is inhabited all year round by young males who are not yet able to reclaim their own territories.
38. At the end of the 19th century, large populations of fur seals were almost completely exterminated. Currently, animals are listed in the Red Book, there are approximately 35 thousand individuals.
39. Why won't snakes be brought to New Zealand today? Of course, if there was such a need, snakes could be brought here, at least from neighboring Australia, but the fact is that snakes are outlawed in New Zealand.
40. Breeding or keeping this reptile at home in New Zealand is strictly prohibited! Also, a fine will be imposed on those who accidentally saw a snake, but did not report it to the relevant authorities.
New Zealand sea lions
41. New Zealand sea lion has a brown-black color. Males have a mane that covers their shoulders, which makes them appear larger and more powerful. Females are much smaller than males, their coat is light gray.
42.95% of the fur seal population is found on Auckland Island. Each male defends its own territory from other males. In battles, the most enduring and strongest representative wins. There are approximately 10-15 thousand individuals of this species.
43. But still, in New Zealand there are snakes, only not terrestrial, but marine ones - the already visible sea krait and yellow-bellied bonito. These reptiles were kept alive only because they do not crawl out onto land and are practically not found off the coast of New Zealand.
44. So why are the authorities so reverent and categorical about the fact that snakes do not appear in New Zealand? And the answer is simple - snakes would immediately destroy the main symbol of the country - the kiwi bird.
45. The most dangerous representative of the animal world of New Zealand is a feral boar.
New Zealand insect - ueta
46. Ueta lives here. This huge insect, weighing more than a sparrow, resembles a huge cockroach.
47. But there are no mosquitoes in New Zealand.
48. The carnivorous snail Powelliphanta, listed in the Red Book, is also found in the country. She is able to devour worms that are not inferior to her in size.
49. Off the coast of New Zealand lives the smallest species of dolphins - Hector's Dolphin. An adult reaches 1.4 m in length, which is less than the average adult.
50. However, despite tight control, there is still a certain plus in the absence of snakes in New Zealand - the country is considered one of the safest countries in the world for nature travel.
photo from internet
Konevets can be called one of the most famous islands in the west of Lake Ladoga. Despite the fact that you can only get to it from May 15 to October 15, thousands of people visit it in six months. Pilgrims strive to get to the monastery, founded by the Reverend Arseny Konevsky, tourists come on excursions to learn interesting pages from history, walk along forest paths and relax on the sandy beaches of the island.
It is believed that staying on the island of Konevets is possible only with the permission of the Pilgrimage Service of the monastery, or with the personal blessing of the abbot. However, on the island you can meet tourists who sailed here on private boats and hardly asked permission. However, all visitors are required to follow the rules for staying in an Orthodox monastery. If they do not comply with these rules, they may be asked to leave the territory.
SPB.AIF.RU recalled the legends associated with the island, as well as real facts from the history of the monastery, which can be called miraculous.
The icon has chosen a place
The history of the island is inextricably linked with the name of the Reverend Arseny Konevsky, whose worldly name, as well as the exact date of his birth, have not survived to this day. It is known about him that in 1379 he took monastic vows. A native of Veliky Novgorod lived on Mount Athos for several years, and when he decided to return to his homeland, the abbot blessed him and gave him the Akathist icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which later became known as the icon of the Mother of God of Konevskaya.
In search of a place for a new monastery, Arseny sets off on a journey along Lake Ladoga. A strong storm forced him to moor to the island of Konevets. After waiting for the bad weather, Arseny got back into the boat and set sail. But, either the capricious nature of Ladoga, or providence made itself felt: a strong wind again forced the monk to moor to the shore. The monk took this as a sign from above and decided that "by the will of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, the monastery should be erected on Konevets."
At the end of the 14th century, students began to sail to Arseny on the island: a monastic brethren began to be created, which built the first stone church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin on the shore of the bay. However, a severe flood in 1421 proved that the place for construction was not the most reliable. Arseny decided to move the temple to a higher place. A new temple was built there, in which the main shrine of the monastery is located - the icon of the Mother of God of Konevskaya.
An island without snakes
One of the most mysterious sights of the island is the Horse-Stone. A huge boulder, resembling the head of a horse, according to legend, was a place where pagans made sacrifices. One fisherman told about the bloody customs to the Monk Arseny. The monk was struck by this story and he decided to cleanse the boulder from wickedness. Taking the Svyatogorsk icon of the Mother of God, he came to the stone and performed a prayer service with it, sprinkling the Horse-stone with holy water.
The legend says that evil spirits flew out of the cracks in the stone, turned into black birds and flew away to the Vyborg coast, which later became known as "devil" - Sortanlakhta.
Together with the evil spirits, all the snakes left the island.
Notable guests
The island has been visited by many famous people at different times. In 1858 Emperor Alexander II came to Konevets. In honor of this event, a memorial sign made of Putilov stone was erected.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Finland gained independence, and Konevets became part of the young state. In the 1930s, excursions were organized to the monastery. One of the most famous "tourists" was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Finland, Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim. It is known that during his trip to the island he met and talked with Abbot Mauritius, who, before coming to the monastery, was a liaison officer at Mannerheim's headquarters.
Prayers saved from bombing
Another wonderful story is connected with the Winter War. During the entire period of hostilities, not a single monk of the Konevsky Monastery was injured. During heavy bombardments, everyone gathered in the temple for prayer and asked for the intercession of the Monk Arseny. Miraculously, shells bypassed the monastery. Only the gardener's house near the Holy Mountain burned down. None of the monks were even injured.
On March 13, the Winter War ended. According to the peace treaty, the Karelian Isthmus and part of the territory of Finland to the north of Lake Ladoga, including Lake Ladoga itself and the islands of Konevets and Valaam, departed to the Soviet Union.
By order of the military authorities, the monastic brethren (31 people) left the island, having served a prayer service in the temple before the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God. After the departure of the monks, another life began on the island.
Test site for chemical weapons
For almost 50 years, the island was a closed zone: civilian ships could not be in the water area, the shores were fenced with barbed wire. The reason for this was that after the Great Patriotic War, a naval base was located on Konevets.
The monastery fell into disrepair during these years. Families of officers settled in the former cells, a warehouse was located in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, and a car park appeared on the site of the brotherly monastery cemetery, and then a sports ground.
In the 50s and 60s, samples of Soviet chemical weapons were tested on the island, and solid-fuel rockets were also tested. By the 1980s, testing at the test site was almost completed, but the test site is still considered to be operational.