Gyurza is a snake belonging to the viper family. This is a large muscular reptile, reaching a length of 1.4 m or more. Her muzzle is blunt, temporal angles sharply protrude. On the top of the head there are ribbed flakes that decrease towards the eyes. The body is thick, curly, in gray-brown tones. A row of dark brown transversely elongated spots passes along the back, and on the sides there are a number of smaller similar marks. The lower side of the body is lighter than the upper and also with spots. Here's the appearance of a snake gyurza. The photo shows her well. Plain individuals are rare. Males are usually larger than females.
According to official classification, this reptile is called the Levantine viper. It lives in India, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Gyurza, and sometimes "coffin snake", it is called only in the last two places mentioned. It settles in the dry foothills, gorges of mountains, in river valleys, as well as in vineyards and on the outskirts of villages. Cultivated land does not scare her away at all.
Gyurza is a poisonous snake with potent poison. Her teeth are long, slightly bent, parallel to the sky. When the mouth opens, the teeth, straightening, become almost perpendicular to the sky. The jaws of the gyurza are movable and the teeth can also be advanced. A snake bites like a dagger strike.
A bite of a gyurza is dangerous for a person, because it acts on the blood, destroying the walls of blood vessels and red blood cells. Measures for the administration of antivenom serum should be taken immediately. Otherwise, a syncope occurs, and sometimes death occurs.
Gyurza is a rather bold snake, especially if she is forced to defend her own life. She is not the first to attack people. Like all vipers, when meeting a person, a gyurza prefers to crawl away or curl up to wait for a moment to hide. If the meeting took place suddenly, she would attack with lightning speed, without warning either by hissing or by pose.
Unlike representatives of this family, eagerly eats small birds and chyurza chicks. For this, the snake climbs onto a tree or bush, hides in foliage and waits for prey. Having caught a bird, she bites it and, holding it in her teeth, waits until it stops twitching, and then swallows it. In the case of hunting on the ground, the gyurza behaves differently. She bites the victim (lizard, rodent, etc.) and crawls to the side, waiting for the action of the poison. The wait does not last long, a minute or a little more. The direction of motion of the victim of the gyurza determines the feeling of the soil with the tongue. Then she crawls and swallows the prey. A hungry gyurza can attack poultry chickens. Moreover, in the excitement of hunting, she can burst into the yard, not embarrassed by the presence of people, and does not always back off when they try to drive her away.
Gyurza is a migratory snake: its activity depends on the temperature of the soil. After hibernation in the crevices of the rocks, where there are many, snakes creep around. In the spring they are active during the day, and in the summer - at night. With the establishment of hot weather, snakes descend lower, closer to the water, where you can get drunk, swim, and hunt birds that have flown to the watering hole. With cooling, they again become daytime inhabitants, right up to wintering.
Mating occurs in early May, and young growth appears in early autumn. Surprisingly, in Central Asia, gyurza lay eggs, and the embryos in them are well developed and snakes appear in 40 days. In other places, snakes are born in a dense shell, from which they are released within an hour.
Despite the harm and danger that gyurza can cause, its poison is very much appreciated and is widely used in medicine.