Snakes In Bulgaria 6. - Four-lined snake -

The species common name refers to the markings seen on the body of adult snakes, four dark stripes running across the body. They are non-venomous but can be aggressive and will bite if felt threatened. They are one of the largest snake species in Europe growing up to 180 cm long, sometimes but rarely they will grow up to 2 meters long. There main diet is small mammals, such as rabbits, mice and squirrels and sometimes will also feed on birds, lizards and eggs. They mate during late April to May, females lay the eggs in summer. They usually lay around 15 eggs per clutch, and will incubate them for 40-60 days! They favor areas with Mediterranean climate and are found in habitats such as: Stone walls, sparse woodland and deserted buildings. In the winter they will spend their time in deserted rodent holes!

   Check out my website about Bulgarian reptiles:  https://bulgarianreptiles.weebly.com/

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Snakes In Bulgaria 5. Adder

The Adder is a venomous snake that is extremely common and can be found throughout most of Western Europe and East Asia. They are not listed as super dangerous, and are not aggressive but they will bite when they feel alarmed or disturbed. Apparently there bites are extremely painful. They feed on small mammals, insects, birds, lizards, amphibians and sometimes worms and spiders. Females breed once every two or three years with litters commonly being born in late Summer to early April. Females usually hatch 5-20 snakes who will stay with there mothers for two or three days before leaving. The adder is not considered to be threatened, but is protected in some country's. There usually found in rocky hillsides or chalky downs but also will be found in meadows and edges of wood.

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Snakes In Bulgaria 4. Dice snake - Natrix tessellata

Dice Snake

The Dice snake is a non-venomous European snake specie and is one of the most common snake species in Bulgaria. They are water snakes and will spend most of there time in or around water. They mainly feed on fish. It's an averaged sized snake growing up to a meter long, females tend to be larger then males. If felt threatened instead of biting, just like grass snakes they will release a horrible smell, although in my opinion the grass snakes it 2x worse. There's a video at the end of the blog of some of the Dice snakes I have caught. The Dice snakes back is usually dark green with black patterns over it, they have a beautiful bright red underbelly which you can see in my video.

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Hawfinch

Hawfinch

The Hawfinch is one of the largest finches in Europe with an overall length of 18 cm and a wing span that ranges from 29-35 cm. This striking bird is found all over Europe and Asia. It's a woodland bird that will often be spotted on fruit trees. It feeds on hard seeds from trees and fruit using it's super strong beak to open up hazelnuts and walnuts. Males and females are very similar, but the males are normally larger.  Usually breeding in late April, the female will lay 4-5 eggs and will wait 13 days for the eggs to hatch. They have a short lifespan of around 4 years old, although interestingly, one Hawfinch managed to live for 12 years and 7 months in Germany!! Although they are one of the rarest birds in the UK, there are a whopping 13 million individuals in Europe!

Hawfinch in flight - My uncle took this picture (UK

Link to my uncles blog: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.bg/

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Snakes In Bulgaria 3. Smooth Snake - Coronella austriaca

The Smooth Snake is a non-venomous specie found in northern and central Europe. They are a small snake specie only growing up to 60-75 cm long. Females grow larger then males. The Smooth Snake is the rarest reptile in the UK.They emerge during March/April when males will start competing for females. Females don't lay eggs, they give birth to 4-12 live snakes. They mainly feed on other reptiles such as lizards, but sometimes will eat rodents and invertebrates to. They are constrictors, meaning they squeeze the life out of there pray then swallow it. A lot of people mistake them for adders and unfortunately they get killed by humans quite often. I have lots of videos of me holding and catching Smooth Snakes, the video is at the end of the blog if you would like to see it. They can bite if felt threatened but luckily it's a weak bite and will not hurt more then a thorn.

Video of Smooth snakes that I caught ;)


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Snakes In Bulgaria 2. Caspian Whip Snake - Dolichophis caspius

The Caspian Whip Snake Is the largest snake in Europe growing up to 2 meters long, the record size is 250cm!! It is a non - venomous specie but is also the most aggressive snake in Europe and will bite non stop until it's confident that you or whatever it felt threatened by is not going to harm it. I personally think they are one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, with their shining grey scales  red head and yellow underbelly. They are extremely good tree climbers and will often be sun basking on top of trees, last year me and my dad caught one at the beach, when we let it go it rushed to a tree and climbed up with extreme speed and skill. I made a video of the snakes I caught at the beach last year including the Caspian whip snake, I have put it at the bottom of this blog. They feed on small vertebrates such as: Lizards, birds, small mammals and other snakes! They breed at the end of May, the male grabs the females neck and puts hit tail around her. The female lays 6 to 12 eggs at the end of june. Males are larger then Females, and usually they have much larger heads then Females.

Here's the video of all the snakes I caught at the beach last year, including a Caspian whip snake



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Snakes In Bulgaria 1. Grass Snake - Natrix natrix

Grass Snake 

The Grass Snake Is a non-venomous water snake specie . It's found all over Europe near lakes, rivers, marshes ect.. It feeds on amphibians, mainly frogs. They are quite a small specie of snakes growing up to an average of 70-90cm long (Although I have found the largest one ever recorded in Bulgaria, which was an epic 1.83m long) They are typically dark green or brown with a yellow color behind the head. They are the most common species of snake in Bulgaria and are also one of the most common snake species in the whole of Europe. They breed in April, and lay 10 to 40 eggs in one batch!! When they feel threatened they produce a horrible smelling fluid. They really extremely rarely bite, I have caught hundreds of them and only once has one ever tried to bite me. One of there most known defense mechanisms is to play dead.

Playing Dead

Here's the video of me catching the largest grass snake ever recorded in my country (Bulgaria)

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Five Of The Rarest Birds In The Uk

1. Hawfinch

The Hawfinch Is the UK's largest finch, and has a massive and powerful bill that is used to crack open nuts. It has declined in many areas of Britain, and is one of the hardest birds to see in the UK. It lives in woodlands, mainly on trees that produce nuts and fruits. 

2. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

The Lesser spotted woodpecker is now one of our rarest birds, It's also the rarest and smallest Woodpecker in the UK. We have lost 3 out of 4 pairs since the 1970s. It's favorite habitat is the woodlands, where there are lots of beetle larva and moths to eat.   

3. Willow Tit 

Alongside the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, the Willow tit has become the rarest woodland bird in the UK! Since 1970, numbers have declined by a shocking 91%, and experts are not sure why! They feed on Insects, Fruit and Berries. Experts estimate there to be around 3000 of them left.

4. Spotted Flycatcher 

The Spotted Flycatcher is a boring looking woodland bird, but is one of the most interesting birds to watch as it has incredible insect catching skills, hence the name. Unfortunately there are now 6 times less Spotted Flycatchers in the Britain than just 30 years ago.    

5. Wood Warbler 

One of the most beautiful and biggest warblers in Europe, unfortunately they are quite rare to see in the Uk, although there are a fair amount in Wales. They mainly feed on insects and spiders. They inhabit beach and oak woodlands.      

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Three Of The Most Aggressive Animals In The World

1.Hippopotamus

Hippos are defiantly one of the most aggressive animals on the world, they are extremely territorial and have been known to stalk and flip over boats full of people. They actually kill more people then any other animal in Africa, estimating to be around 3000 people annually!! They are huge and are one of the heaviest animals alive, fully grown they weigh around 1500 to 1800kg!!!





2.Bull Shark

The bull shark is officially the most aggressive shark in the world. Although it is the most aggressive, It is not the deadliest, It is responsible for 300 deaths and 700 injuries. Most great white shark attacks are cases of them mistaking identity or self defense, but the bull shark attacks whatever it sees! They are quite large, growing up to 3 meter's long and weighing around 130kg.







3. Black Mamba

It's the longest, fastest, and most venomous snake in Africa, If you get bit by this snake and there theirs no anti venom around, your defiantly going to die within 20 to 30 minutes, they have a 100% mortality rate and will not hesitate to bite if felt threatened. They have been known to chase people away from their territory. Fully grown they get to around 4-5 meters long (14 feet)!!!


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Moss

Moss

Mosses are often found in damp or shady locations, they are small flowerless plants that grow in green clumps. They are typically 0.2-10 cm tall, but you can also find larger species which can grow up to 50 cm in height. They do not have seeds, they use spores to reproduce. Mosses get commonly mixed up with liverworts and lichens. There are around 12,000 species of mosses!!! You will most likely see them in the deep, damp forests or at the edges of streams. They can also be found in cracks between paving stones in damp city streets, and on roofs. In England, pretty much every roof has moss on it, because it rains so much! It is a lovely looking plant, many gardeners keep it for decoration.

Moss growing on damp branches

Mosses do not have roots. They can live underwater. Mosses were the first plants to survive on solid ground. They evolved from algae. Most species of moss will live from  3 to 10 years, depending on how much water there is. Just like all plants, they get there energy from the sun.  Most mosses are in a group called Bryopsida.

Five Of The Most Beautiful Snakes In The World

1. Green Tree Python 

The Green Tree Python is found in Australia and New Guinea. It can grow up to 6 feet (2 meters).

They inhabit a variety of places such as trees, bushes, shrubs and rain forests. They mainly feed on rodents, their favorite thing to eat is Mice.

2. Red - Headed Krait

The Red - Header Krait is a highly venomous nocturnal snake which inhabits forested hills. It is mostly found in Thailand, in or near water, and grows up to 7 feet (2 meters) It eats other snakes!

3. Blue Racer Snake

The Blue Racer Is extremely active and fast, almost as fast as the Black mamba (fastest snake in the world). It inhabits a lot of places such as bushes, swamps, woods and ect... It is mostly found in the southern part of Peninsula. Young eat insects such as Grasshoppers, small frogs, spiders, worms ect....Adults mainly feed on small rodents and other snake species.

4. Oriental Whip Snake

The Oriental Whip Snake Is a non-venomous snake. It can grow up to 6 feet (2 meters). It eats small reptiles and amphibians mainly frogs and lizards. It inhabits forest and park lands in China,India and Philippines, it is commonly seen on the edges of bushes in the sun. 

5. California Red-Sided Garter Snake

I  personally think this is the most beautiful snake in the world.

It is a small snake,only growing up to 100cm, It is found in California, they are extremely good swimmers,so they prefer habitats such as: streams, ponds, ditches or marshes. They have a small life span of 2-4 years. They are actually venomous, but don't have enough venom to harm a human. They like to feed on fish, small reptiles and insects.

The Most Hunted Animals In The World

• This week we are going to look at some of the most hunted animals in the world, I do not agree with hunting and it sucks to see how many animals have died due to this act!

1. Pangolin - Manidea sp.

Over the past decade, more then one million pangolins have been illegally trafficked, making it the most trafficked animal in the world! one specie, (Manis pentadactyla) has become extinct because of over hunting. In August 2016, a man was arrested because he had 650 dead Pangolins in his freezer!!

Here are some interesting facts about the pangolin

• A Pangolin's tongue can be larger that it's body when fully extended!

•  An average Pangolin will eat around 60 million insects a year!

• Pangolins are the only mammals in the world covered in scales!

2. Siberian tiger - Panthera altaica

It is estimated the wild population of Siberian tigers is around 400-450! Almost all wild Siberian tigers live at the southeast corner of Russia. They can also be found in northeastern china. The Siberian tiger is the largest of it's specie growing up to 4 meters in length (13 feet). They are considered critically endangered because of hunting and habitat loss from intense logging

Here are some interesting facts about the Siberian tiger  

• The Siberian tiger is the largest cat in the world!

• Apparently the Siberian tiger will only roar during mating season!  

• Siberian tigers hunt alone, but will share there meals with other tigers!

3. African Bush Elephant - Loxodonta africana 

In 1900 there were approximately 10 million of these animals, today their total number is estimated at around 300,000! Most of the elephants killed today are linked to illegal poaching. In some places it is legal to hunt elephants; South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. The African bush elephant is the most endangered animal in Africa 

Here are some facts about the African Bush Elephant 

• The African Bush Elephant is the largest and heaviest land mammal on earth! 

• They have a large life span, living up to 70 years old in the wild!

• More than 25,000 elephants died because of poachers in 2016

Organisms in my Garden - Wolf spider

Organisms in my Garden - Wolf spider spp.

Location

I found it sitting on a white flower, probably waiting for a big juicy bee to come by.

What is it?

Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae. They are robust hunters with excellent eyesight.

They normally live and hunt alone. They will bounce on their prey and sometimes even chase them.

Wolf spiders carry their eggs in sacks, that are carried on their backs. The spiders are normally around 10-35 mm in length. They have eight eyes arranged in three rows. They will inject venom if harassed. if you get bitten with venom the symptoms will include: swelling, mild pain and itching. BUT it depends on what type of wolf spider. Most the species are completely harmless.    

  

What do they eat?

In the wild, a wolf spider will eat almost any prey smaller than himself that comes nearby.

But normally they will eat: houseflies, moths, worms and crickets. 

Babies will eat fruit flies 

What eats them?

They can be eaten by pretty much any bird, amphibian, reptile, mammal

and some types of insects. They also eat each other!  

The Deadliest Animals In The World

5. Blue ringed octopus - Hapalochlaena sp.

They are extremely small, around the size of a golf ball, but don't let the size fool you, they are defiantly one of the deadliest animals on this planet, one blue ringed octopus holds enough venom to kill 26 fully grown men and the worst thing is, there is no antidote! If you get stung, you will be completely paralyzed and unable to breath within 2 to 3 minutes!  






4. Hippopotamus - Hippopotamus amphibius

Although they are mostly herbivorous, they are also highly aggressive and are defiantly the most dangerous animal in Africa, they kill over 3,000 people every year. They are also the 3rd largest land mammals alive, after the Elephant and Rhinoceros!






3. Saltwater Crocodile - Crocodylus porosus

The Saltwater crocodile is known to kill up to 300 people a year, just in Africa. It is the largest crocodile specie on this planet, growing up to 23 feet long and weighing more than 2,000 pounds
It has been known for them to eat monkeys, buffalo,wild boar, and sharks! They can live up to 70 years in the wild!





2. African Elephant - Elephantidae sp.

African elephants are the largest land living mammal in the world! They are highly aggressive when felt threatened, and have been known to trample a Rhinoceros to death! They kill around 500 people a year! They are also the heaviest land mammals alive weighing up to 10,000 kg!  








1. Mosquito - Culicidae sp.

Killing over 1 million people every year, defiantly makes mosquitoes the deadliest animal on this planet! The majority of these deaths are due to malaria. Mosquitoes have an extremely small life span, males only live up to 10 days and females up to 56!

My New Video!!

Hey guys ;) hope you enjoy my new video, I saw loads of coll stuff so make sure to check it out ;) ;)


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I found this new awesome video platform called Viuly, I started using it a few months ago and I upload nature videos on it regularly. I really like it because it pays you to watch and upload videos. If you wanna check out my nature videos on Viuly you can sign up from HERE!! It will earn me and you a bit of cash if you do!! Thanks ;) Or if you want to watch my videos on You Tube click here ;)

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My New Song

 I made this song with FL studio 11, if you enjoyed this track                                                                 

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Ten Interesting Facts On Giraffes

10. The Giraffe is the tallest animal in the world, with even new-born babies being taller than most humans!


9. Giraffes spend most of their time standing up, they actually sleep and give birth standing up!


8. A group of Giraffes are called a Tower!


7. No one has ever seen a Giraffe swimming!


6. Giraffes only need 10 to 30 minutes of sleep a day.

5. 50% of Giraffe calves do not live, as leopards, hyenas and wild dogs eat them!


4. Giraffes tongues grow up to 53 cm long!


3. Giraffes make no sound, not because they can't, but because they don't want to.


2.  Giraffes only need to drink water once every couple of days, they got most of their water from their plant based diet!


1. Giraffes have hair covered horns, which the males use for fighting!

The Rarest Insects In The World

3. Panda ant - Euspinolia militaris

The panda ant isn't actually an ant, it's a wasp!
Although it looks cute,it's sting is extremely painful. It has been known to kill animals up to two pounds with just 6 stings! These Insects are mainly found around Chile and Mexico.





2. Vampire Spider -  Atrax sutherlandi

The Vampire spider, is the rarest spider alive, it only lives in Australia.They live in a underground tunnel waiting for anything smaller then it's
self to fall in!






1. Tree Lobster - Dryococelus australis

Scientists believed this bug was extinct in the 1920's,but they have recently discovered them again. They are found between New Zealand and Australia, The Tree lobster is so rare that scientist are trying to breed more then 10,000 of this specific bug!  

Largest Snakes In The World

1. Green Anaconda - Eunectes murinus

The Green anaconda Is a non-venomous Boa species, found in south America. It is one of the heaviest and one of the longest snakes in the world, growing up to 6 meters long, males are much smaller and only grow to 4 meters. The heaviest Green anaconda recorded was 227 kg!! and 8.8 meters long! Most of there time is spent in the water hunting for food such as: Fish, Birds, Wild pigs, and sometimes caimans -Reptiles similar to crocodiles!! They have also been known to eat jaguars!!!



2.  Burmese Python - Python bivittatus

The Burmese python Is a non-venomous snake. It grows up to 7 meters long! They also spend a lot of there time in water, and can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes before surfacing for air. They mainly feed on birds and small mammals. Females usually lay up to 100 eggs which they incubate for two or three months.



3. Reticulated Python - Python reticulatus

The Reticulated Python is by far the largest snake in the world growing up to 9-10 meters long! It is also a non-venomous species, Females are larger then males.They have been known to eat people! They love to eat: Pigs, Deer and Birds. At breeding time the females lay around 80 eggs. They are well known for hanging around water.




4. African Rock Python - Python sebae

This Is Africa's largest snake growing up to 7 meters long, It is a non-venomous specie.
They love to eat: Monkeys, Antelopes, Fruit bats, Monitor lizards and even Crocodiles!!
This snake has also been known to eat people! They live around 12 years and even longer in captivity! It also likes being around the water and will spend most of it's time by a lake or river.




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I found this new awesome video platform called Viuly, I started using it a few months ago and I upload nature videos on it regularly. I really like it because it pays you to watch and upload videos. If you wanna check out my nature videos on Viuly you can sign up from HERE!! It will earn me and you a bit of cash if you do!! Thanks ;) Or if you want to watch my videos on You Tube click here ;)

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