A Snakeful Night

Luck was with me on 29 September 2006.

Five snakes in a night!

There was a Common Malayan Racer (Coelognathus flavolineatus) that was faster than F1 racer, escaped before a photograph can be taken.


A Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana) with cloudy eyes, suggesting that the snake is about to shed its skin.


A Keel-bellied Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens) roadkill.


A juvenile King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) roadkill.


And finally ... the skeletal remains of a large Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus) in a monsoon drain.

Ok, I cheated a bit. But dead snakes are still snakes, and are important for locality recording purposes.

Sightings are from a northern offshore island of Singapore.

Previous sightings:

http://singaporesnakes.blogspot.com/2006/08/another-snake-roadkill.html
http://singaporesnakes.blogspot.com/2006/08/snake-roadkills-in-singapore_01.html

* All photographs from Mr Norman Lim and Mr Chim Chee Kong

Keel-bellied Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens)

An unlucky Keel-bellied Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens) fell from a tree, landed on the windscreen of a vehicle, and was captured on 20 May 2006 in the day on an offshore island. Ironically, it is supposed to have acute eyesight that enables it to seek out elusive prey among its leafy habitat (Lim & Lee, 1989). Prefered prey includes frogs and geckos (Cox et al., 1998). It is mildly venomous (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992). This diurnal and exclusively arboreal snake prefers forests up to 500 m (Lim & Lim, 1992; Cox et al., 1998).

A clutch of 2 eggs is known (Cox et al., 1998). This species can grow to a little over 1 m in length (Lim & Lee, 1989; Lim & Lim, 1992; Cox et al., 1998).

Keel-bellied Whip Snake is considered vulnerable in Singapore (Ng & Wee, 1994). It inhabits southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, much of Indonesia and the southern Philippines (Cox et al., 1998).

From left to right: Dorsal side of head; Ventral side of head; Right side of head; Dorsal side of body; Ventral side of head; Ventral side of tail and anal plate.

* All photographs from Mr Chan Kwok Wai and Mr Norman Lim.

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. 12.

Lim, F. L. K. & Lee, M. T. M., 1989. Fascinating Snakes of Southeast Asia – an Introduction. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumpur, p. 30.

Lim, K. K. P. & Lim, F. L. K., 1992. A Guide To The Amphibians & Reptiles Of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, p. 147.

Ng., P. K. L. & Wee, Y. C., 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book – Threatened Plants & Animals Of Singapore. The Nature Society (Singapore), p. 331.