The largest snake in Europe hid under a 5-story building. She really scared people.
In Odessa, a Red Book snake crawled into a residential area and bit the director of the Odessa Zoo during the “catch.”
As the director of the menagerie, Igor Belyakov, said, yesterday the State Emergency Service called him and told him that a snake had been found on the territory of the Zeleny Gai residential complex, not far from Chernomorka. They said that a large reptile hid under a five-story building. The residents of the house were very frightened by the uninvited guest.
“I went to the place, it turned out that it was a yellow-bellied snake (Red Book of Ukraine). Big, handsome, very aggressive. He was sitting in such a place that it was a little inconvenient to catch him, so he managed to bite me a little,” he said.
Belyakov traveled to the Odessa region to the Nizhnednestrovsky National Park, where he released a rare snake into the wild so that people would not bother it.
Bilyakov reminded Odessa residents that it is the active season of snakes.
“If you meet a snake in an apartment, in a car, on the sidewalk, don’t be scared and don’t offend it. Take a few photos right away and contact me…”, the zoo director urged.
He thanked local residents for their help in saving the snake. “Wild animals are our priceless national treasure!” Bilyakov emphasized.
The director of the zoo published a photo of the red-listed snake he rescued. It can be seen that the animal was hiding in a narrow niche, which is very difficult for a person to get into, but the head of the institution managed. The photographs also record the moment when the snake grabbed Belyakov’s hand.
Yellow-bellied snake – what you need to know
This is a species of non-venomous snake from the nominate subfamily of the snake family. Another name is the yellow-bellied snake, this snake is the largest snake in Europe. Its length reaches up to 2 m. The color of the upper side of the body comes in different shades of olive color, without a pattern. His belly is yellow, fawn, sometimes reddish. In Ukraine it is found in the steppes. He is extremely aggressive. When an enemy approaches, it does not try to hide, but curls up into a spiral, like a poisonous snake, hisses and rushes at the enemy, while being able to jump up to 1.5-2 m, trying to strike in the face.
It bites painfully, drawing blood, but is not capable of causing significant harm to a person. After a bite, small teeth may remain in the wound.
By killing rodents, this snake brings certain benefits to agriculture. The species is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.
In Odessa, little squirrels that were recently born fall out of their nests directly onto people. As the city zoo reported, small tailed animals fall directly on the heads of people walking in parks. In the spring, the baby squirrels grow up and, due to their own curiosity, fall out of the nest. And then they cannot return to the nest on their own; such squirrels need help, without which they will die. People are asked to help the little ones if she needs it.
