Blunt-nosed viper (Levantine viper) - a large venomous snake from Cyprus
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 10. 2023
- 🐍BUY YOUR LIVING ZOOLOGY MERCHANDISE HERE: living-zoology-film-studio.cr...
🐍BECOME A MEMBER!!! / livingzoology
The Blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera lebetinus) is also called the Levantine viper. It is a large species of viper, which can grow to 2.3 meters! This snake species has a potent venom and bites are always an emergency. Blunt-nosed vipers live in the Middle East and Central Asia (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, northwestern India, etc.). In this video, we will show you Blunt-nosed vipers from Cyprus. You will see this snake species in its natural habitat and also behind the scenes of us catching a beautiful individual in a remote gorge! At the end we will release one rescued viper with the local snake catcher, Antreas Kourides.
It's awesome that you cover these nonfamous and unknown species like the blunt-nosed viper. Many channels focus only on prominent species like mambas or rattlesnakes. Your work is something special 👍
Thank you very much! We want to show snake species which are not so famous too and it is great to hear that you like it!
You guys have mastered the quiet, beautiful, natural sounding video presentation. Just beautiful work.
Wow, thank you! Happy to hear this! :)
It's a good day when Living Zoology uploads
That's great to hear! Thanks for watching our videos!
Thank you so much for the beautiful photography.......and those big goddamn snakes.
And Cyprus looks shockingly like California.
Thank you very much for watching! Cyprus was amazing, a bit like Cali, yes!
Interesting video! I just got back from Cyprus. Last Saturday, while driving through the southern portion of the Trodoos mountains, I saw what looked like a piece of a rope on the road ahead of me. Speeding closer to it, I saw it was a snake, and I couldn't believe my eyes - for I have seen vipers before in the Alps, but never as big as that one. I would say it was 1.5 meters in length and I am not exaggerating, and its body was really thick; it was keeping its head up, unlike any other snake I have seen in Europe before. It looked more like a mamba or a cobra, than a viper. I didn't even think it was a snake when I first saw it from a distance. It was slithering around, trying to cross the highway, but it had been hit by a car so its tail was damaged. I drove past it, since I couldn't stop there, and I saw that the pick-up truck in front of me was going to do a u-turn. So I followed and did a u-turn too, with the intention to see the snake again. The pickup truck, on the way back towards the snake, without any hesitation, drove onto the lane where the snake was, and drove over it with its wheels. Still, the snake was still alive and moving. Then another car approached and it gave the viper the final blow, killing it. I understand both sides: on one hand those are powerful, fascinating creatures, but on the other, I can see why a poor farmer doesn't want to risk their life at the expense of a reptile. Either ways, a very strange encounter. I think I can consider myself lucky to have seen a Levantine Viper, particularly one of that size.
Thank you for watching! Very sad to hear that you saw drivers killing that snake. Yes, people on Cyprus are afraid of vipers and it is understandable. The size estimate is the most interesting thing. The Levantine viper normally grows to about 1.3 meters on Cyprus. A snake 1.5 meters long would be an absolute giant! We guess that you don't have any photos as you were driving. If you have, please send them to livingzoology@gmail.com!
@@LivingZoology I took a video but as I was driving by, you can see the snake for a split second, when it was coiled up. I will try and see what I can do. But I can guarantee you that it was well over a meter in length. And it's thickness, I mean, I have never seen a viper that big. If you are interested I can also tell you the exact location. It's a dry valley and it must be full of them, because I saw another one dead on that same stretch of the road. It was in the area of the "Zante Venue" (you can just google it, it's North-West of Limassol), and the specific location was between the rivers Garyllis and Limnatis
@@amoreazione3563 Everything fits, it is a good area for the species and 1 meter is a realistic estimate 🙂 Thanks for sharing this info!
This channel has the best snake footage! Bravo 🙌
Wow, thanks! We really appreciate this!
definitely has an attitude and a awesome video too
Thank you very much for watching!
Thank you for another awesome video! No one covers reptiles like you do.👍
So nice of you, our pleasure! Thanks for watching!
great work as usual ❤ i didnt know this species , thnks for the discover ! cant wait for the next one 🎉
Thanks a lot! Awesome that you learned about this species for the first time from our video!
Excellent work, the subtitles need a touch of proof-reading, I think! :)
Thank you! The script was checked and corrected by an English native speaker!
Dobrý den jsem ze základní školy Václava Vaňka v Bezně vaše exkurze byla skvělá a moc se mi líbí vaše tvorba❤
Dobrý den! Je skvělé, že se vám program líbil! 🙂 Děkujeme za sledování našich videí!
Another excellent video. So informative. Keep up the good work 👍
Thank you so much! Great that you find our video informative!
More beautiful snakes 🐍 just love watching your videos. 👍
Thank you very much, more videos will come!
Great Video and a nice Viper
Glad you liked it!
I really admire how y'all and your team hunt and chase these potentially deadly creatures. They actually serve a purpose my offing rodents band amphibians that pose a threat to crops that one day will turn into food. I have seen many native American snakes and others abroad. I take pictures, given them their space. Like thay make a pose for the camera. Then we both part ways,. never try and push my luck. I take that pic, then I retreat and let the snake continue on.
Thank you for watching this video! We love to search for snakes and work with them to get our footage 🙂 It is good that you give snakes space when you take photos 👍
This Crew sees the world. Enjoy Safely
We are! Thank you!
zdravím nádhera díky poddruhu schweizeri je to náš nejjedovatější evropský had já choval pouze africké ale každý jedáč je krásný had díky s pozdravem Petr.
Děkujeme za sledování a souhlasíme, že jedáci jsou krásní!
Such an impressive snake. Thank you!
Thank you for watching!
Great job once again.
Thanks again very much! :)
What a fantastic video, really enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed it! This species is not very famous, so we hope to educate many people with our video.
Great Video with absolutely beautiful footage!
I tried to observe this species when I was on vaccation in Cyprus this August without success.
But I did manage to find a mediterranean Chameleon which was a really great experience as it was my second-most wanted reptile-species on the island!
Thank you very much! We were there also in August 🙂 Chameleons are cool, we found 3! Great that you found it too!
Fantastic video thank you. Is this snake, apart from being a viper, related to the Milos Viper?
The Milos viper was a subspecies of the Levantine viper in the past. Many consider it a separate species nowadays, but it can still change - the scientific community is not 100 % decided about it yet.
Always Amazing and Appreciate you ❤️
Thank you so much!
Very nice video.
👍🏻
Thank you 👍
It’s rare encounters like these that makes these snakes 🐍 more beautiful & highlighting their unique behaviour
🤩😯🐍👏
Thank you very much for watching our newest video! It is always special for us when we see some snake species for the first time! This was it!
Can’t wait 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Tomorrow! :)
@@LivingZoology so today 🤗
I subscribed to your channel!
Thank you very much! 🙏
Np
I didn't know this specie, superb !!!
Great that you discovered a new species in our video! :)
Are there Videos planned about Snakes from Brazil exspecially Bothrops species? That would be awesome to see from you guys. Keep up! Appreciate your work!
Thank you for watching our videos! There is no plan to come to Brazil for now, but maybe in the future!
That’s cool a hook and net combo. Never seen that before
Our hook can be easily connected with the triangle having large bag around it. It makes quick bagging of larger snakes in the wild easy :)
Great work! I'm glad I discovered your channel. If you are still there, there is another species all black in color. You may want to film that as well. That one is not poisonous.
We are happy that you discovered it! Enjoy watching more videos from us :) We were on Cyprus in August and focused only on vipers, maybe next time we will search for other snakes too. Other species on the island are not venomous (snakes are venomous, not poisonous, with the exception of few species).
@@LivingZoology You are right! I forgot the difference between poison and venom 🙂 Cheers
Excellent video I haven’t ever seen this species of snake love when u post about lesser known snakes
Glad you enjoyed it! We love to show lesser known species! 🙂
@@LivingZoology I’ve always loved ur channel since the very first video I saw. Ur easily the best educational channel on snakes. Keep up the good work 😊😊
@@helenlogan6481 That is a big honor for us! 🙏🙂
Can you please upload the aspic viper (vipera aspis) and the lataste's viper (vipera latasti) sometime in the future that would be really great I'd very much appreciate that many thanks 😊
We haven’t seen these two species yet, maybe in the future we will! 🙂
Sounds good to me they are both found in europe but in different continents
Seems like quite a stocky, muscular snake.
Yes, it is indeed!
Yes!!!!!😮❤, i should say, yessssssss😂
Yesssss is a correct version 😀🐍❤️
❤❤❤🐍🐍🐍
Thank you!
Turkiye'nin ünlü yılanı Engerek 🎉🎉
Thanks for watching!
The second most dangerous snake species in Turkey is the giant viper, but the most dangerous snake species living in Turkey is the Asian cobra, but it is very rare.
You probably mean Walterinnesia morgani, which is not a true cobra, but close to true cobras in the phylogeny 🙂
@@LivingZoology Yes, the cobra species I am talking about is the black one. In our country, this snake species is called the Asian cobra. Although it is very rare, it only lives on the rocks of one city in Turkey.
@@LivingZoology It lives in the high rocky part of Şanlıurfa city of Turkey. It is the most dangerous and deadliest snake species of our country, you can search it on Google.
@@u.toprak Ok, so we mean the same snake 🙂
@@LivingZoologyYes, the snake species you mentioned lives in Turkey 😉
Beautiful animals. Why not leave them alone?
Thanks for watching. We educate thousands of people around the world about snakes. We try to work as gently as possible to get great footage showing how amazing snakes are. Hopefully, many people will start to respect snakes and not kill them after watching our videos. Those snakes we film become ambassadors of their species and we are always grateful that they managed to spend some time with us.
@@LivingZoology Great to film them, but why bag them and take them away from their habitat?
@@poeda6637 We cannot search for snakes in difficult terrain and take all the heavy camera equipment with us. We release snakes to the exact spot where we found them.
The research paper that boldly claims a 2.3 m maximum size for a killed Macrovipera lebetina individual from Hatay (Southern Turkey) cannot be taken seriously, as it does NOT provide any evidence for this claim. Absurdly, even though a photo of the dead viper is shown as "evidence", the snake is presented a forced perspective, and not even with an object which could be used as alternative scale. Since the viper was already dead, photographing it next to a centimeter scale would have been extremely easy. Thus, who can take that claim in the paper seriously? The only serious claim about body size is the one that you can prove with a proper scale photo.
Thanks for your comment! Honestly, we did not know that the research paper was not providing a serious measurement. What would be the maximum possible size of this species then in your opinion?
@@LivingZoology There are few reference of giant specimens. Herrmann et al. (1992) state a maximum length of 218 cm for Armenian M. l. obtusa (based on Orlov et al. pers. inf.), while Sochurek (1979) refers to some 160-190 cm long M. l. obtusa individuals from USSR, one of them >3 kg body weight. So, I think it's possible that giant specimens may exceed 2 m length, although any such giant such be photographed with a proper scale photo. Congratulations to the amazing video! I love Cyprus and its stunning, ill-tempered blunt-nosed vipers. However, when showing videos of snakes and snake-searching, I think that it is important not to show any detailed information about recognizable/"easy to find" wild viper habitats, in order NOT to attract even more freetime herping adventurers who contribute to disturb and molest wild reptiles in their habitats. Those magnificient snakes should be left as undisturbed as possible, also because they already experience intense human persecution pressure.
@@djwildlifeclips9779 Thanks for more info about the reliably measured individuals! For sure we agree that only studies with proper measurements should be published. Thank you very much, we are happy that you love our video 🙂 We hope that we did not show any spot very clearly (we always try not to) and by the way, we are not saying that we found our vipers on spots which are shown by drone for example 😉
I came across your channel just today and I was very surprised when I saw this one while scrolling through your videos, because I thought to myself that you didn't know about our small island and its only venomous snake. In this (not so professional) rescue video you can see a very big viper individual: czcams.com/video/H_b71wgLlOo/video.html
Thanks for the content and please keep them coming. 🐍
We of course knew that we can find this species on Cyprus and we are very happy that we went there last year! :) Wow, that is a big individual for Cyprus on that video! Thank you for watching our videos!
This is also found in Afghanistan and kashmir
Yes, it is. Thanks for watching!
Some of these look 9 to 10 ft
Thanks for watching!
:)
Thank you!
Cyprus is Greek! This snake is also Greek because it lives in Cyprus
We respect the current political situation and as far as we know, Cyprus is a separate country.
@@LivingZoology but they speak Greek. They are sharing the same language and anthem of Greece
Cyrus is not Greek my friend. Cyprus is divided in to two parts. In the north, Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus exists. Till British claim and occupation it belonged to Ottoman Empire centuries long! I kindly suggest you to review your history knowledge.
@@sukruozbagci9373 you illegally attacked Cyprus
@@LunaObjectCosmos Not us, the Greeks illegally attacked Cyprus and killed Turkish people living on the island. Cyprus belonged to Ottoman Empire since 1571 till British occupation. I kindly suggest you to start to learn about the history my friend.
Your damaging snake spine bro
We work safely and use proper tools. We don’t hurt snakes.
This snake is dangerous. It strikes very fast and the strike could be equal to the length of the body. Never come close to it.
Yes, these snakes can be very defensive, but definitely don’t strike to a distance of their length.
@@LivingZoology Maybe not exactly to their length but the strike very far. Some videos of these snakes in Dagestan are quite telling.
@@cantatanoir6850 We want to spread correct information. We agree, that this species can strike far but spreading exaggeration about snakes can lead to bigger fear of these animals.
@@LivingZoologyThis is more of an approximation as opposed to exaggeration. It might be that the strike is several centimeters less in length than the length of the body but that's not fundamentally incorrect to point that its comparable to the legth of the body. In fact I've read accounts of the people that were catching this snake in southern Russia and there are videos of some of the strokes of these snakes (I cans end you the link) Plus there are accounts from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Arnenia that unequivocally point to the fact that one must be careful bout these snake species. Fear is not a good answer.
@@cantatanoir6850 From our vast experience from all continents except Antarctica and about 350 snake species in the wild, we know that snakes usually strike to a max. distance of approx. 50% of their length. We worked with Levantine vipers on Cyprus and we did not notice anything very unusual about their strikes when it comes to the length.
That’s awful handling. You’re definitely harming the animal and shouldn’t be attempting to catch, let alone be herping for such animals without proper training and experience. It’s dangerous to both you and the animals.
Tell us, what is wrong about using gentle tongs and putting the snake safely into a large snake bag? No harm was done to the snake. We have about 10 years of experience from around the world with venomous snakes in the wild.
Wow, never expected to hear that. These two are as experienced, knowledgeable, skilled, and caring as any professional snake handler could be. If I took training from anyone it would be them.
@@bradsillasen1972 Thank you, we appreciate it! 🙏