ok, good to know what this one is. found one just like it, albeit darker in color. Killed it anyhow upon finding it in a wood pile in our laundry room my Thai brother in law had just left a day before. I was removing the wood specifically to prevent snakes from going there. might be harmless but it fought a ruthless fight. Next time will be merciful & toss over the wall.Michael C wrote:Difficult to tell with the picture being blurry, but did it look like this snake that is very common, diurnal and moves quickly in our area?Treeg wrote:
Saw above snake(s) several times in our garden, about one meter long at most I would guess, somewhat grey color on top side but quite clear yellow or very light green on the sides (longitudal marking). Quite often they 'stand up' a little, lifting there head and part of their body above the grass.
They are active in daytime, so I presume they are not dangerous, I'll just keep out of their path and let them crawl along, they seem to live in the grass or bushes, at least never saw them climb.
This is Dendrelaphis pictus (Painted Bronzeback). It is rear fanged, but I have not even heard of minimal swelling associated with its bite, so it should be considered completely harmless. All the ones that I have come across were very keen on making a fast get away. Their favourite prey is frogs; I find them by listening to the screaming of the frogs they catch, like in the picture, it is eating a Fejervarya limnocharis (Rice Field Frog).
a few minutes later the neighbors guys and I found either a cobra or (brown) checkered keelback (didn't get a look at it's head though we tried) hiding just a few meters away in a patch of growth below a palm tree, but it made a quick escape while we searched out better weapons.
after the rains it's snake city around here. I've heard more than one Thai claim the superstition that if you kill one cobra, it's mate will come after you. hm.
One question, would a Keelback make a nest in soft dirt at the base of a tree?
I don't think a cobra would.
-just can't see how it gave us the slip across flat land, unless it went into an existing burrow under ground when we started to remove the plant growth.
RW
