Rare and Beautiful

It was late when I met my photography buddy at night and the thoughts were running in my head about what kind of shot i wanted to take today and what possible subjects I will get to see. He picked me up from our usual spot near the train station and we drove down the dark lane into the parking and it was all empty (obviously no one will venture into the dark at those time haha) we parked and started to walk inside.

I always feel amazing with all that silence in the jungle and sound of crickets and other insects hits my ears like music, you have to be there to experience it.

We walked straight in and started looking for signs of life in the dense jungle. We saw alot of usual and common bugs and saw a lot of bats flying low. 

It was around 1 AM that we saw our first snake and to our surprise and good luck it was very calm and at a good shooting position and location.

1. Oriental Whip Snake 

The Oriental Whip Snake prefers forest edge habitats or their equivalent including parkland, wooded residential areas and rural agricultural areas. It is most commonly encountered whilst sunning itself on secondary growth along the forest edge.

Its body form is extremely slender, though fully-grown adults appear more robust. Adult coloration varies from light brown to dull yellow-green and often a startling fluorescent green. The species feeds mainly on vertebrates, including small nesting birds, lizards and frogs. The young are born alive, and are brown with yellow and black flecks. It can be distinguished from the similar, and closely related, forest-dwelling Big-eyed Green Whip Snake on the basis of its smaller eye and, generally, the presence of a thin yellow line along the lower flank, just above the ventral scales.

The species ranges from India to China and throughout Southeast Asia as far east as Sulawesi and the Philippines.

Source: http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/oriental_whip-snake.htm 

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

Oriental Whip Snake

We spent a good 30 minutes with this beautiful and calm snake and took the above photographs. We saw in total 4 snakes that night but only two were accessible for us to take photographs of and one of the 4 was a lifer a rare and a beautiful snake. The lifer which we found was a shore / Mangrove pit viper (Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus) and it was very close for comfort as they are very venomous snakes and are aggressive at times.This guy was on the railing probably waiting for some lizards to pass by for dinner. We took some shots of this guy from a distance (watching each other back obviously) and called it a night. 

2. Shore Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus)

A species of mangroves and coastal forests, the Shore Pit Viper has a reputation for being unpredictable and should be approached with caution. Giving no warning signs, this snake will strike readily at any threat, and its powerful hemotoxic venom can cause serious illness or even kill. By day it can be found resting on low branches one or two meters from the ground.

Its color can vary from a uniform dark grey or purplish-brown to a weakly-patterned brown, with a white stripe along each flank, or even greenish-yellow with dark mottling. The scales are strongly keeled (i.e. ridged).

The species ranges from India and Burma, through Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore and Sumatra.

Source: As mentioned above

Shore Pit Viper

Shore Pit Viper

Shore Pit Viper

Shore Pit Viper

Shore Pit Viper

Shore Pit Viper

Well it was a very fruitful evening and i was particularly happy since I finally saw the shore pit viper and made some good images.

If you want to use any of the photos above for any purpose pls contact me at forfotography@yahoo.com and if you would like to buy a print of any of the above pls visit 500px

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