Bitis arietans

Puff Adder ( Bitis arietans )

The puff adder ( Bitis arietans, outdated Bitis lachesis ) is a venomous snake belonging to the family of vipers, which occurs with the exception of the inner Sahara and rain forest areas throughout Africa and parts of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. Through her ​​strong acting hemotoxin, their wide distribution and abundance, it is responsible for most dangerous poisonous snake bites in Africa.

The name derives from the typical threatening gestures and noises that produce the animals at a threat. Here, the snakes inflate and release the air in loud hiss and pop noises (English " puffs ").

Features

The puff adder has a very stocky, sturdy body with a broad, clearly separated from the neck, short and flat head. Their coloration is variable, with pull brownish cross bands on a gray background over the entire body. Their scales are keeled. The subspecies Bitis arietans somalica also has keeled Subcaudalschilde.

The body center surrounded 29 to 41 scale rows. There are 124-147 ventral scales and 15 to 39 tail shields. The tail of the male is longer than that of the females. At the upper jaw has 12-16 upper lip shields, the lower jaw 14 to 19 lower lip shields. The eye is separated from three to four rows of scales on the upper lip shields. The eyes have under incidence of light on a vertical slit pupil. Snakes of this kind reach a length of 90 to 120 cm, the West and Central African puff adders up to 180 cm. South Arabian puff adders are only 80 cm long, however.

Distribution and habitat

The range of the species includes, with the exception of the inner Sahara and rain forest areas throughout Africa and parts of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.

The puff adder prefers open areas such as savannas and steppes, but is also found in open woods, in oases, dry rivers and near human settlements. She walks up to an altitude of 3000 meters, in southwestern Saudi Arabia is the only way at altitudes above 1500 meters with sufficient precipitation ago.

Way of life

Puff Adders are mainly nocturnal, but during the day mainly found in the rainy season while sunbathing. They leave their hideout in cold nights. They feed on small mammals, especially rodents, and birds, lizards, snakes and amphibians. Even fish, grasshoppers and crickets are eaten. Puff adders are ambush hunters, waiting until prey comes within range. In North and South Africa, the animals hold a winter rest.

Reproduction

The Puff Adder is ovoviviparous, so bring live pups, which are surrounded by only a thin Embryonalhülle which is pierced shortly after birth. Before mating, the males fight from Comment fights where they do not get hurt. In South Africa, the breeding season lasts from October to December. The 30 to 80 young are born there from February to May and are about 16 to 25 inches long at birth.

Toxicity

The puff adder is responsible for most poisonous snakebites in Africa. The fangs are very long, the yellow poison is destructive to tissue and hemotoxic and leads to severe bleeding in the tissues. An adult puff adder venom has a stock which is sufficient to kill four to five people. She is not aggressive but bites when you get too close to her or step on them.