Python squeezes pet dog to death at River Valley condo

Python squeezes pet dog to death at River Valley condo
By Lee Hui Chieh & Chong Chee Kin
Sunday, November 19 2006.
The Sunday Times Page 12.



This is an unfortunate incident.

To quote the newspaper article, pythons are "generally defensive by nature and usually feed on small creatures like birds or rodents (especially rats). They tend not to attack humans, unless they feel threatened".

This is how a local python species (Reticulated Python) looks like. Call 999 the next time you feel threatened by one. Provide the right details (name of the snake) so that the police officers can bring along the appropriate tools.

Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

It seems like no snakes can escape the sharp eyes of Chan Kwok Wai. I, "The Blinded One", benefited alot from his presence. He spotted this long (about 2 m) and slender Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla/Dryophis prasina) high up on the branches in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on 12 November 2006 at about 7.30 pm. Recently, Dionne Teo spotted the species at the Central Catchment Natural Reserve on 13 April 2006, 22 May 2006 and 22 June 2006. Gail Q also spotted the same snake in the reserve on 25 August 2006.

This species is one of the most commonly sighted and photographed snake in our local forests, probably because it is abundant and it seldom flees. It is mildly venomous but is harmless to humans and is rather inoffensive (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992). These characteristics make the snake extremely prone to poaching by people. I urge all to learn to bring yourself to nature, and not bring nature to your home. I believe that this makes the whole experience of appreciating these beautiful creatures a lot more meaningful and exciting. This snake is also the frequent victim of unnecessary killings because the green colour makes it resembles the highly venomous pit-vipers.

It is not surprising that Oriental Whip Snakes are not well studied although they are so common. This is the general trend for snakes in the region. Sharing information on sightings and observations can help us to know more about them.

This arboreal, diurnal snake is known to feed on frogs, birds and lizards (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992). It gives live birth to about 4-10 young in a litter (Lim & Lee, 1989; Cox et al., 1998), which are brown in colour (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992).

Oriental Whip Snakes inhabit throughout Southeast Asia (Cox et al., 1998).

From top to bottom: Head left; Body left; Body ventral; Cloaca

* All photographs by Mr Chim Chee Kong, except the one on cloaca which is by Mr Chan Kwok Wai.

Local sightings posted on photographic forums:

www.naturephotosociety.org.sg/dcforum/DCForumID2/496.html
forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=79154
forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=106837
forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=131977
forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=166812
forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1941941

REFERENCES

Cox, M. J., van Dijk, P. P., Nabhitabhata, J. & Thirakhupt, K., 1998. A photographic guide to snakes and other reptiles of Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd, p. 69.

Lim, F. L. K. & Lee, M. T. M., 1989. Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia – an Introduction. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumpur, p. 66-67.

Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K., 1992. A Guide To The Amphibians & Reptiles Of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, p. 70.

Black-headed Collared Snake (Sibynophis melanocephalus)

Chua Siew Chin found a Black-headed Collared Snake (Sibynophis melanocephalus) on the tarmac road leading to the summit of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve on 3 November 2006 at about 9.30 am.

This non-venomous snake is shy and harmless (Lim & Lim, 1992). Diurnal and terrestrial, this snake inhabits lowland areas (Lim & Lee, 1989) such as rainforests (Cox et al., 1998) and agricultural areas (Lim & Lim, 1992). It is usually found near streams (Cox et al., 1998) and among the grass and bushes (Lim & Lee, 1989).

Skinks, frogs, tadpoles and grasshoppers features in its diet (Cox et al., 1998). This oviparous species (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992) can grow up to 80 cm in total length (Cox et al., 1998).

It occurs in southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia east to Java (Cox et al., 1998).

REFERENCES

Cox, M. J., van Dijk, P. P., Nabhitabhata, J. & Thirakhupt, K., 1998. A photographic guide to snakes and other reptiles of Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd, p. 57.

Lim, F. L. K. & Lee, M. T. M., 1989. Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia – an Introduction. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumpur, p. 57.

Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K., 1992. A Guide To The Amphibians & Reptiles Of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, p. 57.

The Night The Snake Got Insulted

Helen Wong shouted "Earthworm!" when she saw the culprit above. It is understandable because the animal is pretty small and it was raining. After a few seconds of time lag, I shouted "Snake!" and Helen jumped three steps back at lightning speed. It took me some time to register the identity of the snake because of the unusual (for this species) pattern on this individual's body. But the characteristic red eyes gave it away. It is a juvenile Shore Pit-viper! Like previous encounters, this snake was crawling on the ground. It was escaping (Yes! Snakes are shy!), and I need a good photograph of it for documentation, so I stopped it by pulling gently at its tail (Not advisable! If I were to be bitten, the fault lies entirely on me). This encounter is on 7 November 2006 (7.15 pm) at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Juvenile Female Wagler's Pit-viper

I received this photograph of a juvenile female Wagler's Pit-viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) from Dionne Teo just after I finished "slogging" on this species. She encountered this snake on 30 October 2006 in Lower Peirce Reservoir at about 4 pm. The patterns on this individual is unlike those on other specimens posted in my previous entry. This is a rarely (relatively) seen juvenile female with bars instead of dots seen in juvenile males. This is what scientists call "sexual dimorphism". Will be interesting to find out the evolutionary cause for this phenomenon.

Wagler's Pit-viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri)

Chan Kwok Wai, always the sharp-eyed one, spotted a Wagler's Pit-viper (Tropidolaemus/Trimeresurus wagleri) on a low-lying branch during our night walk in the Central Catchment Area on 4 November 2006. Although this is not a rare snake, it seems to be that there is very little scientific publications on the ecology of this species. Enter "Tropidolaemus wagleri" or "Trimeresurus wagleri" in Google Scholar and what you get are mostly, if not all, papers on the snake's systematics and venom. However, one can still find lots of information on the natural history and husbandry of this species in Thomas Jaekel's impressive Wagler's Viper Site. It is from this site where we get information to suggest that the pit-viper we encountered is most probably a juvenile male snake.

This arboreal snake lives among low vegetation in forests (Lim & Lee, 1989; Cox et al., 1998) and has a prehensile tail (Lim & Lim, 1992; Cox et al., 1998).



Like all pit-vipers, this nocturnal species possesses heat-sensitive pits to track warm-blooded animals (Lim & Lim, 1992). It is known to feed on small vertebrates, (Lim & Lim, 1992), geckos (Jaekel, 2006), birds (Lim & Lee, 1989), and jungle rats (Lim & Lee, 1989).

A Wagler's pit-viper can grow up to about 1 m (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992; Cox et al., 1998) and is known to give birth to 41 neonates per litter (Cox et al., 1998).

Although this species is venomous, it is not known to bite people (Lim & Lee, 1989) and its bite is seldom deadly (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992).

This snake is distributed in southern Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore, parts of Indonesia and the Philippines (Cox et al., 1998).



Other sightings:

MountainMan (ClubSnap), Central Catchment Nature Reserve, posted 18 May 2005
slaam (ClubSnap), Hindhede Park, posted 18 July 2005
Azure (ClubSnap), Upper Bukit Timah Road, posted 17 February 2006


19 March 2005, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Ria Tan


18 January 2006, Dairy Farm Centre, Kenneth Chng


23 April 2006, Lower Peirce Reservoir, Yang Zhigang


1 August 2006, Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Heng Ci Pei & Violet Lee

REFERENCES

Cox, M. J., van Dijk, P. P., Nabhitabhata, J. & Thirakhupt, K., 1998. A photographic guide to snakes and other reptiles of Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd, p. 23.

Jaekel, T., 2006. Wagler's Viper Site. World Wide Web. http://www.thomas-jaekel.homepage.t-online.de/index-wa.htm.

Lim, F. L. K. & Lee, M. T. M., 1989. Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia – an Introduction. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumpur, p. 102.

Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K., 1992. A Guide To The Amphibians & Reptiles Of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, p. 95.