[Swapnil4585]

Last night when me and wife reached home from our respective offices, we saw a snake measuring somewhere in between 4-5 feet, crossing our compound gate. I could not click a photo as I was on the Inazuma and wife was still seated behind. Based on the length, this is the biggest snake that I have observed in the 25 years of residence at our current home.

The snake, due to the white street-light and bright white LED light of the Inazuma, looked to be light brown in color with some sort of design throughout its length in white color. Thickness of the snake was comparable to that of a coolant return hose of a Corolla Altis. The snake was moving slowly and in a straight line. It did not attempt to move fast due to the sudden bright focus of the Inazuma headlight and the vibrations caused by the idling bike. So, I assumed that it may have just had its meal. Plus, it was moving in a straight line, so I presume it was non-venomous. But then it might be venomous due it being shiny.

I had this fear before and it has come up again - Is there any possibility that these guys can enter the car from beneath the boot or engine bay?

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Saw this news

Man bitten by Russell's Viper walks into Bihar hospital, brings snake along too.

Is this the best way to handle the situation. Would a photo of the snake be enough given it was a venomous snake?

[am1m]

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

Man bitten by Russell's Viper walks into Bihar hospital, brings snake along too.

Is this the best way to handle the situation. Would a photo of the snake be enough given it was a venomous snake?

I'd say it's the WORST way to 'handle' the situation, bringing the snake along! First they are risking another bite, trying to kill or catch the snake, then they are wasting precious time while the patient deteriorates, finally, there is only one form of polyvalent anti-venom available for any of the 'big 4' snakebites.

So the hospital is, at best going to evaluate and administer that, or perform symptomatic treatment. Why waste time and take additional risk trying to catch/kill the snake and bring it along? A photo, if possible would help, sure, more than enough.

Best thing would be to get the person to the hospital asap, WITHOUT trying to tie a tourniquet or anything, keep the person calm, and phone ahead so the hospital can be prepared.

[Swapnil4585]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

The snake, due to the white street-light and bright white LED light of the Inazuma, looked to be light brown in color with some sort of design throughout its length in white color.

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

Man bitten by Russell's Viper walks into Bihar hospital, brings snake along too

So, based on what I spotted and the snake in this news, is it safe to deduce that I too spotted a Viper? Do they crawl straight?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Came across this video shared on a few news platforms. What a gorgeous specimen. A true king indeed.

I guess we should be glad that the King Cobra is generally not very aggressive unlike the Vipers.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1814173807227343297

King Cobras are cannibalistic. Their primary food is other snakes.
Vipers are generally lazy and sluggish. They do not move out of the way as proactively as Cobras do. Hence the incidences of people stepping on them is higher. Snakes mostly bite when attacking prey or in self defence situations.
I guess if someone steps on one’s foot for example, the person being stepped on is liable to react with much displeasure. So why should it be different for any other species?

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I guess if someone steps on one’s foot for example, the person being stepped on is liable to react with much displeasure. So why should it be different for any other species?

Very fair point

Just that most of the literature around seems to describe vipers as highly irritable and aggressive.

Maybe they should take your point into consideration

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by hieronymous

It slithered outside rapidly. Everyone was in shock at the car wash. It took 30 minutes for the snake catcher to coax the snake into the plastic jar since it went into someone’s home.

Rapid slithering is usually not a common python behaviour, they tend to "walk" on their ribs more than slithering, but given it was a small snake it is feasible.

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

The snake, due to the white street-light and bright white LED light of the Inazuma, looked to be light brown in color with some sort of design throughout its length in white color. Thickness of the snake was comparable to that of a coolant return hose of a Corolla Altis. The snake was moving slowly and in a straight line. It did not attempt to move fast due to the sudden bright focus of the Inazuma headlight and the vibrations caused by the idling bike. So, I assumed that it may have just had its meal. Plus, it was moving in a straight line, so I presume it was non-venomous. But then it might be venomous due it being shiny.

I had this fear before and it has come up again - Is there any possibility that these guys can enter the car from beneath the boot or engine bay?

That "walk" usually means its a constrictor, like a boa or a python.

[Swapnil4585]

Originally Posted by Jazzybala

That "walk" usually means its a constrictor, like a boa or a python.

But then it was shiny too.

If I have to corelate my limited knowledge about snakes with car paints, then aren't venomous snakes' ceramic coated, and python's matte finished?

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

But then it was shiny too.

If I have to corelate my limited knowledge about snakes with car paints, then aren't venomous snakes' ceramic coated, and python's matte finished?

Not really, especially under headlights. The scales of most snakes are shiny to begin with, especially just after moulting.

Some snakes advertise their poisonous/venomous status by having bright in-your-face colours to stand out from the background. There are, simultaneously, extremely venomous snakes that are very boringly coloured and merge with the background very well, eg cottonmouth or Russell's viper.

[Axe77]

I saw this Indian Rock Python in the lane outside my friend’s house (at Aeon Ajmera, Wadala) a few weeks ago. There’s a massive “Naala” (drain) a little beyond that green patch it slithered into.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Vipers are generally lazy and sluggish.

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Just that most of the literature around seems to describe vipers as highly irritable and aggressive.

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

...aren't venomous snakes' ceramic coated, and python's matte finished?

Originally Posted by Jazzybala

That "walk" usually means its a constrictor, like a boa or a python.

I think a lot of these generalizations are perhaps not a good way to ID snakes, or as a guide of what to expect from snake behaviour. Some snakes can be sluggish, some can be aggressive. Snakes depend a lot on the outside temperature, so again behaviour depends a lot on the time of the day and the weather. There are enough physical varieties and differences, so many 'morphs' that even trained researches may not say anything definite till they can do a scale count!

[Latheesh]

Spotted couple of minutes back, (just above 1 ft long) which snake is this?

[parsh]

This looks most likely Indian Keelback.

In Indian terms it is also referred as Shankarachi Lat - God Shankar's hair.

Very regularly found in our farm and adjoining forest and preyed upon by Mongoose often in and around farm.

It is non-poisonous.

[ArTigor]

Last week saw this snake locally known as 'Dhaman' or Indian Rat Snake, near my office on palm beach road Navi Mumbai. Was approximately 5 feet long and looked amazing.