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Life habits
Snakes, belonging to the class Reptiles and suborder Serpents, are true terrestrial vertebrates. Venomous snakes are scary, but they are not that dangerous as long as you pay attention. Snakes mainly eat rats (they also eat frogs, birds, etc.). Snakes are inconspicuous in appearance, with strange shapes and colors, covered in scales, with high heads and necks, swinging bodies and tails, fast movement, hooting calls, and transitional swimming. Hard to be lovable. Snakes like to live in environments that are shaded, moist, inaccessible, overgrown with weeds, luxuriant trees, with tree holes or piles of rocks, firewood piles, haystacks, ancient earthen walls, and rich food. These are the habitats for them. Places where snakes live, haunt, and breed. Some snakes also live in water.
They live in tomb caves. Thick and granular feces can be seen at the entrance of the cave, so we can know whether there are snakes in the cave. Snakes have the habit of hibernating. During the winter, they sleep in caves where they stay for several months without eating or drinking, staying motionless to maintain their strength. When the weather is windy and sunny, I will occasionally come out to bask in the sun and sometimes eat. When spring comes, the snake wakes up, goes out to look for food, and takes off its original coat. When the snake sheds its skin, a fluid is secreted between the old and new skin, which helps the snake shed its skin. From the diameter and length of the snakes coat, the weight of the snake can be measured and even the name of the snake can be determined. Soon after the snake sheds its skin, its activity level increases, its food intake increases, and its body condition gradually recovers. As the temperature gradually rises, it enters the estrus period from late April to early to mid-May. When looking for a mate, male and female snakes emit clear and bright chirping sounds, like the sound of hitting rocks.
The egg-laying period of snakes is generally from late April to early to mid-June, depending on the species. The eggs produced by snakes are usually cemented into a large egg mass, and the number of eggs in the egg mass ranges from 8 to 15. Snakes are often hungry or semi-starved. They usually hunt by "waiting for the rabbit", but sometimes they also take the initiative. The author once witnessed a green bamboo snake chasing a frog by the river. The frog jumped into the river, and the snake also jumped into the river, just like two divers in tandem. I have also seen snakes preying on bird eggs. It quietly climbed up the wall near the eaves, swam to the house swallows nest, and kept sticking out its tongue, frightening the parent birds away. When the snake discovers the egg, it attacks and entangles it first. After it is safe, it opens its mouth and swallows the egg. Don't think that its mouth is small. In fact, it can swallow food that is 8 to 10 times the size of its own head. After the snake has eaten enough food, it feels tired and enters a resting state. At this time, it is easy to be caught. As for the number of times a snake feeds, it varies depending on the species and size of the snake. Generally, during the peak period of summer foraging activities, especially during the spawning and breeding period, the feeding time is once a day or every other day. Snakes are slightly larger because they forage for larger amounts of food., usually eating once every 3 days to about a week. Snakes also like to sunbathe in the sun, usually around 10 to 12 o'clock in the morning. When sunbathing, they usually lie down on the ground in the grass or wrap themselves around tree trunks. There are also cases where half of the body is exposed outside the entrance of the cave or curled up outside the pile of stones, with various postures. The activity patterns of snakes are mostly diurnal and nocturnal, which vary depending on the species.
