Page 81 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Snake Japanese striped

(Elaphe quadrivirgata)

The snake reaches a body length of up to 120 cm, a tail up to 29 cm.
The pupil is elliptical, narrows in the sun and forms a vertical slit. The
iris of the eyes is ocher-red. On the top of the body there are 17–21 rows
of scales. Abdominal scutes — 195–215, sub-caudal — 76–99 pairs. In
adults, the scales on the body are weakly ribbed, in young ones — smooth.
The abdominal scutes form a weakly expressed rib along the edges of the
belly. Coloring on top is gray-olive or reddish-brown-paradise. Head with
a pattern. Typically, a dark streak runs from the eye to the corner of the
mouth. The bottom of the head is white. The belly is olive or fleshcolored
with dark spots.
It feeds on rodents, frogs, insects, and can also eat smaller snakes.
On the territory of Russia, it is found only in the southern and central
parts of the island of Kunashir, where it was noted in the northwestern
solphation field of Mendeleev volcano, near Lake Rozovoe and streams
Kisly, Stolbovsky, Dobry and Doktorsky, in the caldera of Golovnin
volcano and the settlements of Alyokhino, Tretyakovo and Mendeleevo.
The main part of the range is located in Japan on the islands of Hokkaido,
Yakushima, Tanegashima, Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Oki and Izu.

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