The snakes not cherished

“I’ve been studying snakes for as long as some people have lived,” jokes herpetologist Boris Tuniyev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honored Ecologist of Russia, Deputy Director of the Sochi National Park for Science. He devoted almost half a century to studying vipers (Viperidae), grass snakes (Natrix natrix), whip snakes (Сoluber), and other species of snakes. He started studying them back at the University of Dnepropetrovsk, continued studies in his native Sochi and its environs. Today, there are 40 species of snakes in our country, 15 of which inhabit the Krasnodar Territory (Kuban). On the eve of the upcoming Year of the Snake 2025, our correspondent spoke with the herpetologist and got to know much about the hard life of snakes, why their populations are declining in Kuban, how wise the python Kaa was and how to find the rarest snake.

- Please tell us how many species of snakes inhabit the Krasnodar Territory and how rare they are.

- There are 15 species of snakes inhabiting the Krasnodar Territory, and 10 of them are in Sochi. Almost 80 percent of these species of snakes are in the Red Data Books of different levels - of Russia and of the Krasnodar Territory, including all species of vipers such as Caucasus vipers (Vipera kaznakovi), Dinnik’s vipers (Vipera dinniki), Orlov’s vipers (Vipers orlovi), relict vipers (Pelias magnifica), Eastern steppe vipers (vipera ursini renardii), and Lotiev’s vipers (Vipera lotievi). Lotiev’s vipers inhabit Mount Magisho, the extreme east of the region. In addition to vipers, the Red Data Book of Russia includes the Aesculapian snakes (Elaphe longissimi), Dahl’s whip snakes (Coluber najadum), European whip snakes (Coluber jugularis), and large-headed water snakes (Natrix megalocephala, Orlov et Tunijev, 1987) also called Colchis water snakes. Moreover, while the European whip snakes and the Dahl’s whip snakes have a wider habitat, it is their Black Sea Coast population that is listed in the Red Data Book of Russia. Sarmatian rat snakes (Elaphe sauromates) - or Pallas’s runners - inhabit the steppe part of the region, as well as the sea coast approximately to the city of Gelendzhik and the village of Kabardinka. This species of snakes is also listed in the Red Data Book of Russia. There are also relatively stable species in terms of their numbers - the grass snakes (Natrix natrix) and tesselated water snakes (Natrix tesselata), the smooth snakes (Coronella) that are not listed in the Red Data Books. As for uniqueness, it is worth highlighting the relict vipers and Orlov’s vipers. These are two endemics that inhabit the Krasnodar Territory only and cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. They are very similar to Caucasus vipers (Vipera kaznakovi), but there are differences in color and scaly cover, and in addition, their habitat is very small.

- Recently, increasingly more different autochthonous species are under threat of extinction. For example, the Colchis pond turtles (Emys orbicularis colchica), which are ‘forced out’ by the red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) brought to the region. And what about snakes? Are there enough of them, as they say, ‘per capita’? Are there any threats to their existence?

- There were and are threats, because, most people treat snakes with caution at best, and at worst, they have, unfortunately a desire to kill them. And this attitude continues, although there are positive shifts in the attitude, including thanks to the TV programs by Nikolai Drozdov, Soviet and Russian zoologist, biogeographer, naturalist and journalist, who constantly spoke about snakes to change the situation. What are the threats? First of all, they are natural and happening due to climate change. Summers are becoming hotter and drier, which results in decreasing the habitat of Colchis snake species like the large-headed water snakes (also called Colchis water snakes), the Caucasus vipers, the Aesculapian snakes, they feel uncomfortable in the places they inhabited, but the habitat of species of snakes of Mediterranean origin is growing - the European whip snakes and Dahl’s whip snakes. Another factor that poses a threat to snakes, not directly, but through food chains, is the acclimatized common racoons (Procyon lotor). They eat amphibians, thereby reducing the large-headed (Colchis) water snakes’ food supply. Anthropogenic factors also have a serious impact. In the steppe zone of the region, great plots of wild land were brought into a state of cultivation and the steppe vipers were reduced to small island populations. Today, there is mass construction in the foothills, we see a reduction in the population of the Caucasus vipers. People do not want to have such ‘neighbors’. The most conscientious people call us and ask, “Come, take them away”, the rest just take a stick in their hands and kill snakes. The construction of a trans-Caucasian railway and highway is on the agenda, which will run through the most massive populations of Dinnik’s vipers in the area of ​​Lake Kardyvach, this is expected to result in the reduction in endemic large-headed (Colchis) water snake species.

- Have the populations of snakes listed in the Red Data Books decreased greatly?

- The reduction of these populations of snakes should be assessed for the last decade when the summer months were hot. We see that the number of snakes has decreased by almost 30 percent. Of course, these figures are average. For example, the populations of grass snakes inhabiting the Taman Peninsula area, where there is a small human population, are relatively stable. But today, the situation with the oil spill that occurred as a result of the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait is of concern. For now, the snakes are in the state of hibernation, but when they emerge from hibernation, will they have a sufficient food supply? Will the gobies that they feed on survive? This is a big question.

- It is clear that the development of the region, including the resort area development, as well as climate change cannot be stopped. What should be done to preserve the populations of rare reptiles?

- There is no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. When building a road, the most valuable areas of snake habitat should be preserved, usually these are small pieces of land that can be bypassed. This is more correct than relocating the species of snakes, because no one can be sure that they, having accustomed to one place, will get accustomed in places inhabited by completely different animals. As for those most vulnerable species of snakes that are in the first conservation category and listed in the Red Data Books of Russia and the region, such as the Caucasus and the relict vipers, the Colchis pond turtles, some special programs are under development and the allocation of funds is expected. In this case, it is possible to breed and introduce them to those places where they can live. In the case of vipers, these places can be specially protected areas of the Sochi National Park, it will be enough to create minimal conditions there, make some areas not so dark, no great efforts are required to do this. So, there are ways to preserve and increase the snake population, the main thing is funding and desire.

- Do you mean breeding snakes? Why?

- I understand that most of us have, to put it mildly, a negative attitude towards snakes. But the snakes are the most important link as they regulate and reduce the number of mouse-like rodents. At night, this ‘work’ is done by owls, small predators, mammals - weasels, martens, ferrets, but in those places where they cannot get into, this ‘work’ is done by snakes. Feeding on rodents, they play a very important role in maintaining the ecological balance, otherwise the mice, simply put, could have eaten both our harvest and people. Over my 40 years of work, I have twice experienced years of a sharp increase in the mouse population when winters were warm, and there was a good harvest of beech, oak, a lot of food, which helped the rodent population grow exponentially. It was just a ‘stream’ of mice that did not stop day and night. One should keep in mind that mice, first of all, convey especially dangerous infections.

- May I ask a personal question, how did you become a herpetologist? Do you like snakes?

- As it often happens, I became a herpetologist by chance. When I was a schoolboy, I wanted to study the leopards. But by the time I graduated from school and entered the institute in Dnepropetrovsk, there were no these predators in the Caucasus area any more. A very experienced herpetologist, Natalya Konstantinova working at the biology department gave me an idea to start studying lizards and snakes. I continued studying them when I came to work at the Caucasian Reserve, and later on, at the Sochi National Park. So, I have been studying snakes for more than 45 years. When people ask “What is your favorite animal?” I honestly answer - the Caucasus vipers. They came to us from the Tertiary period, when there was a tropical forest in the region. This is a very beautiful reptile of a bright orange and crimson color. In addition, snakes have a very interesting biology, which amazes me to this day.

- Can you give an example?

- For example, a discovery that was made over the last 15 years. Snakes that live in the highlands, such as Dinnik’s vipers or grass snakes, can reproduce without males. They ‘know how’ to store sperm after mating and self-fertilize in the absence of a male. Just fancy! For example, an avalanche has descended in the mountains. Then it has become warmer, the snow has melted in the lower areas, the snakes have emerged from hibernation in these areas. And the snow in the upper zones normally melts by the end of August only. Accordingly, the female may not meet a male. And nature has developed such an interesting mechanism in snakes that live in the highlands, which allows them to be fawning. Dinnik’s vipers have another peculiar feature. Like other vipers, they are viviparous, so after the offspring appear and all the resources have been spent on giving birth to them, mother-snakes do not have time to accumulate the necessary fat reserves for going into hibernation for winter, so they do not mate the next year, they have no resource. This is another point that determines the vulnerability of this viper species.

- There are many rumors and myths about snakes... For example, that they are vindictive and can chase people. Is this true?

- Or the rumors that a snake can take its tail in its mouth and roll like a ring after travelers? This is what they say about ‘yellow-bellied’ European whip snake snakes. These are large snakes that can be two meters long. They are quite aggressive, can hiss, protecting themselves, and even attack. But of course, stories about chasing people are best described by a phrase “Danger always looks bigger through the eyes of fear”. A very popular myth is that if a cow’s milk disappears, it means that a grass snake has bitten the cow’s udder and milked it all. In reality, a grass snake has more than 100 small teeth in its mouth, what cow can stand having a hundred small needles stuck into its udder? And grass snakes do not feed on milk. The matter is that manure is often stored near cattle yards. When it decomposes, it gives off heat, and snakes use such a warm place to lay eggs. You can often hear that ‘hairy’ or ‘crowned’ snakes live in cemeteries. In reality, these are just snakes after molting, with a small piece of skin left on their heads. In addition, after molting, snakes look very bright, they look like velvet.

- What about the wisdom of the snake? We all read Mowgli in childhood and remember Kaa the Python from The Jungle Book stories by Rudyard Kipling...

- Are you talking about Kaa the Python, who gave advices to everyone? I wonder how Kaa could do this as snakes are deaf, their ear bones are not developed. The advice that you need to make noise and shout in the forest to make snakes crawl away is not true. They feel the approach of a person with their whole body due to the shaking of the ground. There were even scientific works that suggested using snakes to ‘inform’ about earthquakes, but they failed. As for the wisdom of snakes, the rumors are clearly exaggerated. These animals ‘act’ on the basis of primitive instincts. Of course, there are snake species that take care of their offspring, for example, king snakes (Lampropeltis) or pythons (Python), when they lay eggs, the females guard them. But as soon as the ‘babies’ appear, the mother-snake crawls her way, and her children crawl their ways, too.

- Snake venom is used in medicine. Is it really useful?

- There is even a snake on the emblem of doctors. This comes from an ancient Greek legend. The physician Aesculapius, going to a patient, took a staff, once saw a snake on it and killed it. His daughter Higeia, goddess of health (the word ‘hygiene’ comes from her name), saw that another snake crawled to the dead one, with a blade of grass in its mouth, and revived it. Then Higeia went into the forest to follow the snakes, found a similar blade of grass and began to heal people using it. And in gratitude to the snake, the girl began to give water from a cup to the snake. So, the emblem of medicine became the cup from which the snake drinks, and does not at all fill it with its poison or wisdom. Snake venom is really used in many medicinal ointments, in drugs that help stop bleeding and treat neurological diseases. It has different effects depending on the species of snakes, but its healing properties have not been fully studied. There are practically no studies in this field.

- Are there poisonous snakes in the Krasnodar Territory and what to do when you come across a snake in the wild?

- Let’s start with the fact that you don’t need to be afraid of snakes. There are no deadly poisonous snakes in the Krasnodar Territory. Most often, the snakes that can be seen on the sea coast, near water bodies, rivers, in the eastern Azov region, are grass snakes. As for vipers, there are very few of them. In the forest, they inhabit mainly the thickets of bushes, where there is a play of light and shadow, in the highlands, they are in the rocky places where they can hide, and where there are mice and lizards. Vipers are very conservative, and most often, a four-square meter area is enough for them where they can warm up and catch a lizard, and in winter, they go into hibernation. Among the cases of snake bites in the Caucasian Reserve and in the Sochi National Park, there was not a single fatal one for humans. Livestock react much more strongly if the snake’s bite is in their face, where the blood vessels are concentrated, through which the poison quickly penetrates and gets into their brains. Any snakes in the Krasnodar Territory longer than 80 centimeters are not poisonous, they are whip snakes or grass snakes. There are no vipers longer than 40-50 centimeters in our region. To distinguish a viper from a grass snake, you can look at the tail, a viper has a short tail. My main advice when seeing such animals is “Stop, let the snake crawl away”. Believe me, they have a very difficult life. God did not give them arms or legs, and on top of that, everyone does not like them and wants to kill them. During the year, I receive a lot of photos, unfortunately, 80 percent of them are dead snakes. On the other hand, this also helps us keep some statistics and make an express analysis of the snakes’ habitats. In reality, seeing a snake is a huge luck. It is necessary for natural conditions, a person, and an animal to coincide in one place at the same time. I travel around the region a lot, and although I usually prepare for such expeditions, it is not for sure each time that I can find snakes.

- What was your rarest find?

- It was a black-headed rhynchocalamus, a very secretive small pink snake with red and black stripes on its head. These snakes feed on ants, ant eggs, they have a very short period of activity, as soon as it gets hot, they go deep in the ground. I discovered this snake during an expedition to the south of Armenia. In semi-desert landscapes, you first do a visual inspection, and then start turning over stones. I noticed such a rare snake under one of them. At that time, only eight of them were recorded on the territory of the USSR.

- And the last question. Recently, reptiles have begun to be kept as pets. Give some advice to those who dream of their ‘own’ snake?

- The most important thing is that you can’t keep poisonous snakes, they are dangerous for humans. Of course, everyone decides for themselves whether to keep a snake as a pet or not. Unlike cats and dogs, these animals do not have feedback. The story is the same as with aquarium fish species, which react to the owner only when food is brought to them. First of all, you need to have an equipped terrarium, which should have a cool area and a warm one. You also need a heating lamp that can maintain a certain temperature with daily fluctuations to satisfy the physiological needs of snakes. During the day time, the terrarium should be warmer, and at nights, it should be cooler. It is necessary to choose the right food. There are species that feed on frogs only, and there are those that eat warm-blooded animals like mammals and birds. Keeping a snake is not easy, especially for beginners. Unfortunately, it happens that people start keeping an animal and then cannot cope with it, so, abandoned dogs or cats appear on the streets.

- And what about snakes?

- It happens that snakes run away from their owners, too. Last year, for example, employees of one of the Sochi cafes came to work in the morning and found a blunt-nosed viper (Vipera lebetina) in the corner of the room. It’s good that their friends helped them find me and they sent me a photo. I told them not to touch the snake and immediately went to the cafe. The blunt-nosed vipers are, firstly, very poisonous snakes, and secondly, they are listed in the Red Data Book of Russia. It’s unclear how this snake appeared in Sochi, and even on the street. Fortunately, no one was hurt, neither people nor the snake. Now, the blunt-nosed viper is in the terrarium of the Sochi National Park, we are preparing to transfer it to the Dagestan Nature Reserve, where it will be released to the wild, into its natural habitat.

- Thank you for your very interesting story. And a very happy year of the Snake to you!