Snakebites and Selfies in Russia

[Larry1]

Yesterday I posted in the Weird stuff in Florida thread the story of the cockroach eating contest whose winner received a ball python. Snakes are fairly common here. For some reason I thought they would be rare in Russia.

While I know that Russia has snakes, even venomous ones, I assumed they were few in number and for the most part located in remote places. I found a number of news stories about snakes biting Russians.  In some of these incidents the victim was taking a selfie with the snake. It should probably go without saying: don't take a selfie with a poisonous snake. If you can't tell the difference between a venomous snake and a nonvenomous one, stay away from them all. Here in the US it isn't difficult to tell the difference. Most of our venomous snakes are from the pit viper family and have a triangular shaped head (various types of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins). The exception is the coral snake, which is small and colorful (the coral snake is the one whose red bands touch its yellow bands). It appears that at least some of Russia's venomous snakes are from the pit viper family.

Just be careful while you're on the nature.

Snakes, Snakebite Selfies Up in Russia Due to Rainy Summer

The snake population has risen in and around Moscow following this summer's chilly, wet weather, news website Russkaya Sluzhba Novostey (RSN) reported Wednesday.

"During these rainy summer days, the snake population has increased in New Moscow, Ismailovsky Park and Moose Island National Park," herpetologist Vladislav Starkov told RSN, adding that suburban areas near the Desna and Pakhra rivers in the southern part of the Moscow region have particularly high numbers of reptiles now.

Starkov advised people who encounter a snake to not panic, but remain calm and do not attempt to catch it.

"Vipers do not attack first and are harmless," Starkov said.

Nevertheless, with the increase in the snake population, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of people who have reported being attacked by snakes.

Two residents in the Lipetsk region southeast of Moscow were recently hospitalized after receiving bites from poisonous snakes, news agency Regnum reported Tuesday.

A man from the town of Yelets accidentally stepped on a viper while fishing and was bitten on the leg.

In a separate incident in the region, a woman was bitten by a snake while trying to take a selfie in the reeds on the edge of a pond. She walked into the area barefoot and stepped on a snake, which subsequently bit her. She was brought to the toxicological department of the regional hospital with severe swelling in her foot, Regnum reported. 

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/news/article/snakes-snakebite-selfies-up-in-russia-due-to-rainy-summer/526440.html

I'll never understand those people whose hobby is keeping poisonous snakes.

[Miquel Westano]

Yesterday I posted in the Weird stuff in Florida thread the story of the cockroach eating contest whose winner received a ball python. Snakes are fairly common here. For some reason I thought they would be rare in Russia.

While I know that Russia has snakes, even venomous ones, I assumed they were few in number and for the most part located in remote places. I found a number of news stories about snakes biting Russians.  In some of these incidents the victim was taking a selfie with the snake. It should probably go without saying: don't take a selfie with a poisonous snake. If you can't tell the difference between a venomous snake and a nonvenomous one, stay away from them all. Here in the US it isn't difficult to tell the difference. Most of our venomous snakes are from the pit viper family and have a triangular shaped head (various types of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins). The exception is the coral snake, which is small and colorful (the coral snake is the one whose red bands touch its yellow bands). It appears that at least some of Russia's venomous snakes are from the pit viper family.

Just be careful while you're on the nature.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/news/article/snakes-snakebite-selfies-up-in-russia-due-to-rainy-summer/526440.html

I'll never understand those people whose hobby is keeping poisonous snakes.

Larry remember my buddy who loves to catch them? 

[Larry1]

Larry remember my buddy who loves to catch them?

That snake in the photo is 6 feet, 10 inches long. For the metric folks that is 2 meters, 8 cms. Big snake.

[jone]

Yeah, there are snakes in Moscow.  What was your first clue?

[tfcrew]

"Vipers do not attack first and are harmless," Starkov said.

Will have to disagree with that. Vipers are venomous!

One snake that will attack just to be mean, is a water moccasin
 [sometimes called a 'cottonmouth']
I've seen those guys being highly vicious on more than two occasions.

[Larry1]

Will have to disagree with that. Vipers are venomous!

One snake that will attack just to be mean, is a water moccasin
 [sometimes called a 'cottonmouth']
I've seen those guys being highly vicious on more than two occasions.

Yes, when I read that herpetologist saying vipers are harmless that struck me too as not correct.

Water moccasins are dangerous. Some years ago I killed one that my neighbors had been trying to kill. Because of the felicitous climate and the fact that the neighborhood had been recently constructed on their habitat we had more than a few snakes (though the great majority were not venomous). I left the nonvenomous ones alone but killed the venomous ones. My small children and my dog played in our yard. A snakebite that would send an adult to the hospital could easily kill a small child.

[alex330]

"Vipers do not attack first and are harmless," Starkov said.

This guy is an idiot. Vipers are venomous and some are very aggressive. We encounter Fer de lances on our property all the time. Large, very mean, and may even chase you. In many cases you have about 30 mins to get to the hospital.

[Larry1]

In the Florida Everglades.

This 18-Foot Python Was Captured in the Florida Everglades

University of Florida researchers recently captured what may be the second-longest python ever caught in Florida.

Captured along a popular wildlife-watching trail on July 9, the python was a female who measured 18 feet 3 inches and weighed 133 pounds, CBS Miami reports (for the metric folks that's five and a half meters). The longest ever captured in the park measured 18 feet 7 inches long.

The snake was removed from the park and euthanized to protect other wildlife. Pythons are not native to Florida, but were introduced to the region as exotic pets. They now live in the wild by the thousands.

http://time.com/3978462/18-foot-python-captured-florida-everglades

At the link above there is a photo of the huge snake. It's very long and very thick. There is also a video of a python catching and eating a small animal. Reportedly a python of this size can eat a Florida deer.

[STaty]

Hi! Snakes it is very dangerous. At us bears are dangerous. All spring and all summer the wood near my town burns. Therefore animals run from the fire to the town. On May 11, on the suburb of the city of Tynda (my town) two women were attacked by a bear. They gathered birch sap. Approach of a predator was felt by a dog who started barking loudly. The bear at first attacked it, then one of women, the second was succeeded to escape. She also reported the accident in a call center of police.

On a scene police officers, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the specialist of protection department of fauna left. They saw a bear who dug the earth the victim. A predator which showed aggression, trying to defend the production, shot from 10-meter distance. After the game manager I defined that the woman was attacked by a four-year-old she-bear. She partially removed a scalp from the victim, left a deep wound in a hip and already managed to cover it with earth. The victim was dug out and taken to hospital. It survived.
Today in the city again there is a lot of smoke because the wood burns. I cancelled my jog in park.

http://www.ampravda.ru/2015/05/12/057272.html