In New Zealand, snakes are illegal. In new zealand, snakes are completely prohibited Where there are no snakes at all

New Zealand is considered one of the most beautiful and safest countries on earth. There are a large number of green hills, beautiful fields that have no edge, clean rivers and clear lakes, clean air, excellent ecology.

On the territory of this country, snakes are not found both in nature and in entertainment, as well as in scientific centers. In this state, such reptiles are prohibited by law. It is forbidden to keep them, breed them for any purpose. And if you find a snake somewhere and do not inform the authorities, you face a fine.

The Ministry of Industry provided the authorities with data according to which there are no snakes in the country at all. We are talking specifically about terrestrial species, while there are still marine species in the waters of this state. These reptiles do not appear on land and are extremely rare near the New Zealand coast. Their bites are poisonous, but these animals are very small in size and when bitten by their poison will not be able to penetrate human skin, so they are not at all dangerous to humans.

Perhaps in New Zealand, snakes are banned by the authorities because they would definitely destroy the main state symbol - a wingless bird called "kiwi". This would eventually lead to the complete extinction of the species, because these birds live only here and you will not meet them anywhere else. By the way, the word kiwi is also called the inhabitants of the country, which for them is not offensive at all.

It is precisely because there are no snakes, large predators, mosquitoes and dangerous spiders here that this state is considered the most favorable and safe for tourists.

What is the reason for the absence of snakes in New Zealand?

Previously, it was assumed that these reptiles did not exist in this state at all. But in the 2000s, researchers and archaeologists discovered the remains of snakes. Thanks to this discovery, it was proved that 20-23 million years ago these reptiles still lived here, but for some reason they still died out.

One of the reasons for the complete extinction of snakes is the ice age in the country. It is believed that land snakes died out due to a severe cold snap at this time and did not start up again due to the fact that the islands are geographically isolated from each other.

However, they could well appear, for example, from Australia, where a large number of them are found. But thanks to the tough attitude of New Zealand policy towards these reptiles, they have little chance of resuming their habitat here.

Konevets can be called one of the most famous islands in the west of Lake Ladoga. Despite the fact that you can only get to it from May 15 to October 15, thousands of people visit it in six months. Pilgrims strive to get to the monastery, founded by the Reverend Arseny Konevsky, tourists come on excursions to learn interesting pages from history, walk along forest paths and relax on the sandy beaches of the island.

It is believed that staying on the island of Konevets is possible only with the permission of the Pilgrimage Service of the monastery, or with the personal blessing of the abbot. However, on the island you can meet tourists who sailed here on private boats and hardly asked permission. However, all visitors are required to follow the rules for staying in an Orthodox monastery. If they do not comply with these rules, they may be asked to leave the territory.

SPB.AIF.RU recalled the legends associated with the island, as well as real facts from the history of the monastery, which can be called miraculous.

The icon has chosen a place

The history of the island is inextricably linked with the name of the Reverend Arseny Konevsky, whose worldly name, as well as the exact date of his birth, have not survived to this day. It is known about him that in 1379 he took monastic vows. A native of Veliky Novgorod lived on Mount Athos for several years, and when he decided to return to his homeland, the abbot blessed him and gave him the Akathist icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which later became known as the icon of the Mother of God of Konevskaya.

In search of a place for a new monastery, Arseny sets off on a journey along Lake Ladoga. A strong storm forced him to moor to the island of Konevets. After waiting for the bad weather, Arseny got back into the boat and set sail. But, either the capricious nature of Ladoga, or providence made itself felt: a strong wind again forced the monk to moor to the shore. The monk took this as a sign from above and decided that "by the will of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, the monastery should be erected on Konevets."

At the end of the 14th century, students began to sail to Arseny on the island: a monastic brethren began to be created, which built the first stone church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin on the shore of the bay. However, a severe flood in 1421 proved that the place for construction was not the most reliable. Arseny decided to move the temple to a higher place. A new temple was built there, in which the main shrine of the monastery is located - the icon of the Mother of God of Konevskaya.

An island without snakes

One of the most mysterious sights of the island is the Horse-Stone. A huge boulder, resembling the head of a horse, according to legend, was a place where pagans made sacrifices. One fisherman told about the bloody customs to the Monk Arseny. The monk was struck by this story and he decided to cleanse the boulder from wickedness. Taking the Svyatogorsk icon of the Mother of God, he came to the stone and performed a prayer service with it, sprinkling the Horse-stone with holy water.

The legend says that evil spirits flew out of the cracks in the stone, turned into black birds and flew away to the Vyborg coast, which later became known as "devil" - Sortanlakhta.

Together with the evil spirits, all the snakes left the island.

Notable guests

The island has been visited by many famous people at different times. In 1858 Emperor Alexander II came to Konevets. In honor of this event, a memorial sign made of Putilov stone was erected.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Finland gained independence, and Konevets became part of the young state. In the 1930s, excursions were organized to the monastery. One of the most famous "tourists" was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Finland, Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim. It is known that during his trip to the island he met and talked with Abbot Mauritius, who before coming to the monastery was a liaison at Mannerheim's headquarters.

Prayers saved from bombing

Another wonderful story is connected with the Winter War. During the entire period of hostilities, not a single monk of the Konevsky Monastery was injured. During heavy bombardments, everyone gathered in the temple for prayer and asked for the intercession of the Monk Arseny. Miraculously, shells bypassed the monastery. Only the gardener's house near the Holy Mountain burned down. None of the monks were even injured.

On March 13, the Winter War ended. According to the peace treaty, the Karelian Isthmus and part of the territory of Finland to the north of Lake Ladoga, including Lake Ladoga itself and the islands of Konevets and Valaam, departed from the Soviet Union.

By order of the military authorities, the monastic brethren (31 people) left the island, having served a prayer service in the church in front of the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God. After the departure of the monks, another life began on the island.

Test site for chemical weapons

For almost 50 years, the island was a closed zone: civilian ships could not be in the water area, the shores were fenced with barbed wire. The reason for this was that after the Great Patriotic War, a naval base was located on Konevets.

The monastery fell into disrepair during these years. Families of officers settled in the former cells, a warehouse was located in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, and a car park appeared on the site of the brotherly monastery cemetery, and then a sports ground.

In the 50s and 60s, samples of Soviet chemical weapons were tested on the island, and solid-fuel rockets were also tested. By the 1980s, testing at the test site was almost completed, but the test site is still considered to be operational.

An old Irish legend says that when Saint Patrick christened the country, he drove all the snakes from the Emerald Peninsula. First, the reptiles were gathered on the top of Crow Mountain, and then in the name of the Lord they were ordered to throw themselves into the sea. Historians believe that the patron saint of Ireland did a lot for the country, but the expulsion of snakes cannot be attributed to his merits. The truth is that there have never been creeping reptiles on this island nation.

Archaeological data

Let's start with historical and archaeological data. Ireland is a northern island nation. Not a single archaeological excavation in the country has been able to find any signs of snake fossils. Historians believe that for a long time, even before the islands broke away from the land, a cold climate prevailed here and there was a kingdom of ice. Thus, reptiles were in no hurry to occupy the territory of modern Ireland. And after the warming happened, the British Isles became independent objects. Only now the snakes living in Europe on land could not reach the northern latitudes. Before them appeared an impressive obstacle in the form of melted glaciers, leveled with sea water.

Animal migration

After the last ice age, the migration of animals from Europe began. This was about 10,000 years ago. Then the lands of Ireland and England did not acquire their modern shape, but they gradually dumped annoying glaciers into the sea. First of all, large mammals began to develop new territories: wild boars, bears and lynxes. It is believed that Ireland and England were divided between themselves more than 8,500 years ago. The British Isles completely separated from Europe 6,500 years ago. And this means that the snakes had two thousand years to have time to penetrate the territory of modern Britain. And so it happened, at present, snakes, copperheads and vipers live in Foggy Albion.

Other places where there are no snakes

In addition to Ireland, there are other island states and regions of large countries on Earth where there are no snakes. For example, there are no snakes in Greenland, New Zealand, Hawaii, Antarctica, parts of Canada and northern Russia. It turns out that Saint Patrick was too busy exorcising evil spirits. Well, if apart from jokes, snakes deserved contempt among Irish Christians. People here have a pathological fear of reptiles and still blame them for the expulsion of Eve from paradise.

The former patron was depicted in the form of a snake

It is also known that the Celtic god of fertility was depicted as a reptile. His name was Sernunnos, and it was he who was worshiped by the locals before the reign of Christianity on the island. It is believed that the legend of the expulsion of snakes came from here. Saint Patrick replaced his predecessor and got rid of the reminder. However, we already know the truth, and it is confirmed by scientists Nigel Monaghan, curator of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, and Mark Ryan, an expert at the Center for Health Sciences at Louisiana State University.

The only exception

Do you know that there are no snakes in New Zealand? And, not only do they not exist in the wild, you will not meet them even in local zoos and research laboratories.
Snakes are literally outlawed in New Zealand. It is strictly forbidden to keep and breed reptiles of this species. A fine will threaten you even if you just saw a snake and did not report it to the right place. However, according to the New Zealand Ministry of Extractive Industries, which is responsible, among other things, for environmental safety, the likelihood of such an incident is virtually zero, because there really are no snakes in the country.

True, it is necessary to clarify, ground snakes. Two species of sea snakes - yellow-bellied bonito (Pelamis platurus-pictured) and the already visible sea krait (Laticauda colubrina) are still found in New Zealand waters. However, these snakes never crawl out onto land, and the cases of their appearance near the New Zealand coast are quite rare. At the same time, both species are poisonous, but do not pose a serious danger to humans, since they are too small for their venom to penetrate human skin when bitten.

By the way, if land snakes did appear in New Zealand, they would inevitably destroy the main New Zealand symbol - the flightless kiwi bird (pictured).
Also due to the absence of dangerous snakes and poisonous spiders, New Zealand is considered one of the safest countries in the world for outdoor travel.
So why are there no snakes in New Zealand?

For a long time it was believed that there were never snakes on the New Zealand Islands. However, in the early 2000s, researchers from New Zealand and Australia discovered the remains of these reptiles (National Geographic News: “Fossil Find Proves New Zealand Once Had Snakes“). This discovery proved that 15-20 million years ago, snakes in New Zealand, apparently, were still found, but for some reason completely died out.

It is believed that this could happen during the ice age, when a sharp cooling occurred in New Zealand. Subsequently, the geographical isolation of the islands was the reason that this species did not appear in New Zealand again.

Of course, if desired, creeping reptiles could have been brought into the country long ago. For example, from neighboring Australia, where there are more than enough snakes of various types. However, the tough policy of the New Zealand authorities leaves little chance that snakes will ever reappear in New Zealand.

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