The cold wind of winter is coming as expected, and it is also testing the way animals spend the winter.
Warm-blooded animals, just like humans, have a hundred ways to cope with it. However, ectothermic animals, due to their own conditions, have a very single way of surviving the winter.
Snake, as a cold-blooded animal, has no choice in order to survive the winter in areas with large temperature differences between the four seasons. Hibernation is its only way to cope with extreme weather.
The snake cannot dig holes. It has no real cave of its own. Its hibernation completely exposes itself to danger and allows itself to be slaughtered.
At this time, the rats that were once chased by snakes got their revenge. No matter whether it was a poisonous or non-venomous snake, the rats dared to eat it.
So, are hibernating snakes really "easy to bully"? Why can mice "turn over and sing" in the face of hibernating snakes? The reason is not as simple as you think.
About Snakes
Snakes are a frightening animal. However, snakes account for one-third of the approximately 11,000 species of reptiles in the world. The most surprising thing is that snakes are "limbless" reptiles.
According to research, snakes and lizards once had a common ancestor. As "lepidosaurs" that appeared in the Triassic more than 200 million years ago, snakes once had legs. However, in order to survive better, the snake was "forced" to give up all its limbs.
For example, some people say that snakes are aquatic animals. They cannot use their limbs in water, so they have degenerated. Some people also say that snakes are terrestrial animals. They used to be able to dig holes, and their limbs affected their operation, and they were gradually eliminated. However, there is no definite answer.
It was not until 2015 that the first snake with four limbs was discovered by scientists. This "tetrapod snake" lived in Brazil 113 million years ago. It is 16 centimeters in length. Its four short legs are limited to simple grasping, but cannot be used for crawling.
Later, with the study of a large number of fossils of snakes, a lot of evidence was also corroborated. For example, why do snakes have elongated bodies? Why are its internal organs so strangely shaped? Why does it have abdominal scales like tank tracks?
Eventually it was generally accepted that the ancestors of snakes should be derived from a burrowing snake that could drill holes. To this day, only the vertebrae and ribs remain after the snake's skull. Its internal organs, except for its elastic stomach, have been evolved as much as possible.
This can be found in pythons and anacondas. Traces of limbs can be clearly found on their bodies, but they cannot grow. They have no bladder, a very short intestine, different kidneys, and only one lung.
Don't underestimate the snake's "tracks". When it crawls, the muscles on both sides expand and contract to a certain extent, driving the ribs to move forward, backward, left, and right, and the friction between the abdominal scales generates reaction force, ultimately pushing the body forward quickly. In different scenarios, it can move in S-shape, linear shape, telescopic shape and sideways.
Even without legs, snakes can still live freely. That is because in order to protect themselves and hunt for prey, some snakes have evolved terrible venom, and some have developed good entanglement abilities.
As the saying goes, every gain must come with a loss. In nature, where the fittest survive, snakes rarely dig their own holes in order to survive better. Instead, they like to occupy the caves of other animals to inhabit.
In order to punish the snake's "lazy" behavior, nature did not allow its vision to evolve. Now it is still a "semi-blind" without eyelids to adapt to the life of digging holes. At the same time, it gradually turned into a cold-blooded animal that cannot burrow.
There are many ways to resist the cold. Why do snakes choose hibernation?
In order to survive the winter better, some animals choose to migrate, some thicken their fur to keep out the cold, and some store food in their holes and do not come out. Animals such as snakes, frogs, and hedgehogs often choose to sleep through the entire winter (bears and squirrels do not completely hibernate as long as there is food).
The snake is also helpless. Its "bare" body cannot use its fur to protect it from the cold. It is wandering and has no habit of gathering food. It has no wings and cannot fly to warm places.And all of this, the limbs are in permanent pain.
The snake has no legs, which directly limits its ability to migrate long distances. By the time it struggles to crawl to the south, winter may have turned to spring. Therefore, snakes can only spend the winter in place.
During the long evolution, snakes still have relatively primitive physiological functions and organizational structures. Its metabolism is very low, and its body temperature can only change with changes in the environment.
When the ambient temperature is low, its body functions will be limited. According to scientists' observations, snakes eat a lot to store energy in autumn. When the ambient temperature is below 15°C, they will rarely eat. When the temperature continues to drop, the snake's top priority is to find a warm cave to nest in.
At this time, snakes, as solitary animals, also broke boundaries during hibernation and learned to hug together to keep warm. They rely on their unique method of communication to attract other snakes, and the number of snakes hibernating in groups can range from three to thousands.
hibernate in groups, and everyone is entwined. According to research, snakes also pay attention to "the order of growth and young". Similar to snakes of the same species, female snakes burrow first, male snakes second, and finally the young snakes. In this way, it is estimated that in the snake's understanding, female snakes that can reproduce offspring need to be protected first, while the young snakes can only resign themselves to their fate.
At the same time, hibernation in groups can increase the core temperature by about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius. Even if the young snakes in the outer ring are frozen to death, at least the overall survival rate is guaranteed. After everything wakes up, the frozen baby snakes may become energy supplies for the surviving snakes.
Why do you say hibernating snakes are "easy to bully"?
Rats are the main food source of snakes. In seasons with suitable temperatures, snakes will chase rats until they are "out of breath." However, when the snake enters the hibernation state, it is the mouse's turn to be proud and proud. It can "hold the snake without the strength to restrain the chicken" and chew it as spicy sticks.
Interestingly, snakes are particularly fond of mouse burrows. Many snakes like to throw themselves into the traps in winter. As a former natural enemy, the rat is not polite. It waits for the snake to completely lose its ability to move before it attacks the snake.
Because mice are animals with excellent survival skills. They can eat anything and survive anywhere. They are not timid. When they are hungry, they dare to take a bite even if they are the king of hell. Of course mice are not afraid of mere small snakes.
When snakes hibernate, they will go through three stages, one is the sleep period. During this period, if they are in a light sleep and are in danger, they will immediately engage in aggressive behavior. During a period of deep sleep, they will lower their metabolism just enough to maintain life, their bodies will become stiff, and they will completely lose their ability to resist. During a sleep period, they are already conscious when they are about to wake up, and they will attack when they sense a threat, but the damage is slightly smaller than during the sleep period.
A smart mouse will naturally choose a snake to "take action" when it is in its deep sleep period. At that time, the snake is equivalent to the mouse's "delicious popsicle". Of course, as long as the mouse bites the snake's vital gate, such as the heart (seven inches) and cloaca, the snake will still sleep forever even if it falls asleep and comes out of sleep.
my country's Dalian Snake Island , the black-browed viper and Rattus norvegicus "love and kill each other" scenes are staged every year. In summer and autumn, the black-browed adder is so majestic that it chases Rattus norvegicus in all directions. In spring and winter, the Rattus norvegicus hugs the black-browed adder and "sings" to its heart's content.
Why are mice not afraid of snakes, which are natural enemies? This is probably one of the reasons
What we call timid as mice is just a one-sided view of mice. In our consciousness, it is natural for a cat to chase a mouse. However, on some occasions, the mouse is not afraid of the cat and even chases the cat away.
According to research, the root cause of all this lies in cats. What is going on?
Here, we have to mention the familiar Toxoplasma gondii . As a parasite , cats, tigers, lions and other felines are the final hosts of Toxoplasma gondii. It can only reproduce sexually in the intestines of felines, and then find new hosts through feces and other methods.
Toxoplasma gondii cannot be underestimated. It is not a waitist like other parasites. Toxoplasma gondii is a veritable creationist. It can drive the intermediate host to help it find the final host.
Therefore, when we see mice chasing cats, it is because the mice are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, which "controls" the mice and makes them bold, thus driving the mice to actively seek out cats as their final hosts.
Biologists have demonstrated this point. The experimental team placed cat urine, fox urine, etc. in front of a small white mouse infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Not only was the mouse not afraid, it also took the initiative to explore the smell. At the same time, the mouse was still full of strength, excited, happy and satisfied.
Afterwards, through laboratory research, it was found that after the mouse was infected with Toxoplasma gondii, the concentration of dopamine secreted by the brain increased by more than 15%. Everyone knows dopamine, the happy hormone that delivers passion and excitement.
Therefore, as long as a mouse is infected with Toxoplasma gondii, it will become "fearless" and will not be outdone when it encounters cats or snakes. For example, in the "Five Rats vs. Bungarus snake" incident that occurred in Quanzhou, China on September 23 this year, none of the five rats escaped. They regarded the Bungarus snake as food and fought against the Bungarus snake one after another, eventually dying from the snake's poison.
Therefore, as long as cats are active in nature, mice may be infected with Toxoplasma gondii. By then, even if summer encounters a snake, as long as it has the strength to fight, it may kill the snake. Are mice afraid of snakes? Doesn't exist.
In fact, hibernating snakes are also very dangerous.
Although snakes are scary, they have a lot of value. Some people use them to make wine, some people take snake venom for profit, and some people make snake soup. At this time, someone thought that hibernating snakes have no "power to resist", and then had an evil idea: to dig up hibernating snakes.
Actually, this idea is very dangerous. Even throughout the winter, hibernating snakes may not always be hibernating. If there is a warm winter and the temperature is suitable, the snake will wake up and crawl out of the hole to bask in the sun to replenish energy.
In the winter of 2020, in the Shangqiu area of Henan, a hibernating snake climbed out of its cave and lay on a grave to bask in the sun. Because of this, it was worshiped by locals as a "snake fairy" for a long time.
Moreover, snakes usually hibernate in groups. If you accidentally dig up a nest of snakes, the snake in the center is very easy to wake up. It's okay to encounter non-venomous snakes , but once you encounter a highly venomous snake, you will be in danger.
On the morning of December 31, 2019, when a group of workers were digging a ditch on a hillside in Qi'ao Island, Zhuhai, Guangdong, a worker in his 50s dug up a hibernating bamboo-leaf green snake. Unfortunately, the worker's leg was bitten and poisoned. Fortunately, he was sent to the hospital in time and was injected with the corresponding antivenom, which saved his life.
Therefore, hibernating snakes are not "easy to bully". Depending on the geographical environment, hibernating snakes will choose different caves, such as depth, dryness and humidity, wind direction, etc. The snake's state will change according to the environment, so it is very dangerous.
Once a snake senses a threat, its aggressive behavior out of self-protection is just a conditioned reflex reaction. "The Farmer and the Snake" is the best example. It's not that the snake doesn't know how to repay kindness, but that's just its nature.
is written at the end
Between snakes and mice, there are no absolute natural enemies. If they are in different positions, either one may dominate the other.
The terrifying snake does not rely on its venom and entanglement ability to run rampant. On the contrary, when it faces humans, it more often flees for its life. As long as there is no threat that cannot be resolved, it generally will not attack humans actively.
In fact, in the eyes of animals, they have their own laws and order of survival. Their space belongs only to themselves or the animals. For humans, they prefer to embrace nature.
There are millions of ways for humans to spend the winter, while animals can only survive the winter by relying on the physical conditions given by nature. All animals are born in nature and are integrated with nature, and we humans should also embrace nature and respect nature.As long as there is less harm, I believe that snakes and rats will become harmonious and balanced under the control of nature.
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