Snakes on a Mountain
We had a walk up a nearby mountain at the weekend, and were lucky enough to encounter this snake as it was crossing the road. I’ve never seen one in the wild before. Actually when I was a kid I once found the severed head of one when I was on a school field trip, but that doesn’t count, and it was a lot smaller than this!
Click the picture for the full version.
It stayed still long enough for me to take the picture, then slithered back into the hedge. I didn’t want to get too close as I wasn’t sure if it was venomous or not. I was later told that they are not, but I bet they can still give a nasty bite if provoked. I spotted another one later, briefly, as it moved through the foliage. It was a warm, sunny day so I suppose that brought them out. I’m not sure exactly what variety of snake it is, but I’ll do a bit of research and try to identify it.
Does anyone know?
Bonus reptile! Here is a picture of a lizard spotted on the same walk. Again, I don’t know what kind of lizard it is. My knowledge of the local wildlife could stand some improvement.
May 18, 2010 at 12:50
Honestly, the snake looks like a Yamakagashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdophis_tigrinus or http://homepage3.nifty.com/japrep/snake/namihebi/hiba/text/eyamakagasi.htm ).
While it is poisonous…it’s a generally non-aggressive snake…and it’s teeth are near the back, so the general likelihood that you’d die from it…not so much.
No idea what the weird lizard thing is though.
May 18, 2010 at 20:39
Thanks for the information Jennifer! That definitely looks like the snake I saw.
I think the lizard could be this:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/japrep/lizard/skink/text/eokada.htm