With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, there are many insects, birds, small animals, etc. in many urban parks, but have you ever seen a large snake? On the morning of October 10th, when the nature education organization Science Popularization Wanderer was carrying out a public welfare science popularization activity on the theme of plants and biodiversity in Beijing Zizhuyuan Park, he accidentally encountered a 2-meter-long snake! What's going on?
In the past Sunday, the science popularization wanderer held 3 consecutive public welfare science popularization activities in Zizhuyuan Park, leading 3 groups of urban people to understand the plants, birds and insects in the garden, and learn ecological and environmental protection knowledge. Just as the leading teacher was explaining the aquatic plants of Zizhuyuan, someone suddenly shouted "Snake! Everyone fixed their eyes on the stone under the small stone bridge lying on the stone of a large blue snake, it seems not disturbed by the activity, still leisurely basking in the sun.
Identified by zoologists of popular science wanderers, this is an adult Chifeng snake, which is a non-venomous snake and is not a threat to tourists. However, the appearance of such a large snake in zizhuyuan still caused a heated discussion among everyone, and tourists at the scene raised their cameras to take pictures. Some elderly people familiar with Zizhuyuan said that they had only seen small snakes at the water's edge of Zizhuyuan and had never seen such a large snake.
Popular science zoozoologists explain that the Chifeng snake is a kind of swimming snake, mainly preying on rodents, it was once widely present in the Beijing area, many trees, ponds and even in front of the house and behind the house have its figure. It is a medium to large snake that can grow to more than 2 meters long when adult, and the size of the Chifeng Snake that appears in Zizhuyuan is not uncommon. However, with the process of urbanization, the number of Chifeng snakes in the urban center has become less and less in recent years, so few people have seen them.
But according to the analysis of zoologists, there are still many suitable spaces in our cities for the Chifeng snake to inhabit and reproduce. Taking Zizhuyuan as an example, the plant configuration here is diverse, the number of insects and birds is also quite large, and it belongs to the urban garden ecosystem with relatively good biodiversity, and the Chifeng Snake can find enough food here. And last Sunday was the first day of warming up after days of rain in Beijing, snakes are cold-blooded animals, many days of rain and cooling make their bodies react slowly, stiffened, need to find a suitable place to bask in the sun, warm their bodies, so it happened to be discovered by the nature education team observing aquatic plants.
For the reason why this big snake appeared in Zizhuyuan, zoologists also gave 3 possible answers: First, this snake may have been living naturally in Zizhuyuan Park, but the probability of being photographed in covert action is small. This year, Beijing has had too much rain, the water level of urban lakes has been high, flooding the area where wild animals used to be active, and the location of some animals to take food, drink water and rest has changed, so that it has been discovered by the public.
It is also possible that the water of several small lakes in Zizhuyuan comes from the South Long River and the Shuangzi Branch Canal, connecting the Jingmi Diversion Canal and the Summer Palace, and the upstream can be traced back to Changping, Huairou and Miyun, which are areas where the distribution of Chifeng Jin snakes is more abundant, and it is not uncommon for animals in the upstream area to enter the central area of the city with the flow of water. Finally, it cannot be ruled out that this snake was released in Zizhuyuan Park.
In any case, the relevant experts have reminded the public: the Chifeng snake has no poison, has a very docile temperament, usually it will be more afraid of people, it is not easy to see it, and tourists do not need to worry about visiting the park. If you encounter it, don't hurt it. "In recent years, we have paid more and more attention to the conservation of biodiversity, and the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity is also being held in Kunming, Yunnan Province. Protecting this snake is the performance of the improvement of citizens' scientific literacy. Zoologists said.
In 2020, Beijing launched a biodiversity survey, field recording of 5086 species of various species, in the survey, the northeast hedgehog, weasels, swallow falcons, kestrels, Japanese pine sparrowhawks, etc. are constantly found in the central urban area, gold line side fold frogs, black spot side fold frogs, Chinese forest frogs, Chifeng snakes, red chain snakes, blackfin carp, etc. frequently "infested" in the plain area.
The relevant person in charge of the popular science tourist who carries out natural science popularization activities in Beijing's major parks and suburban scenic spots all year round told reporters that in fact, there are snakes in many parks in Beijing, such as the Beijing Botanical Garden, the black eyebrow snake, the Chifeng snake, the Xiangshan Park has the black eyebrow snake, the tabby neck snake, the short-tailed pit viper, the Summer Palace, the Yuanmingyuan have the tabby neck snake, the Chifeng snake, the red chain snake, etc. The appearance of the Chifeng Golden Snake in Zizhuyuan this time also shows that the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in Beijing has emerged, and the organisms have become more and more abundant.
Popular Science Wanderer/Courtesy Photo
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Zhao Yuhan
Edited by Kuang Feng
Process Editor Wu Yue
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