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Lycodon travancoricus
Banded. Cream and very dark blue.
The Neelakurunji Cardamom plantation in Munnar, Kerala, India, is also a tourist destination for nature lovers. On my last day there I took another stroll when a break in the pattern on the bark of this very old, very tall shade tree caught my eye. Sure enough, it was a snake slithering extremely sluggishly into the space created by the broken pieces of thick woody bark. It was barely moving but had already hidden its head when I saw it. When came back about 30 mins later, it had hidden itself completely. Anyone passing the tree would never know what reptilian secrets lay hidden behind its peeling bark. The third picture shows the tree from the point where I saw it first.
I know it is difficult, if not impossible, to ID a snake without taking a look at its head...but maybe the colouration and scale patterns will help. The fourth pic is a cropped version to show closeup. I am hoping for at least a good guess...and meanwhile I have decided not to lean against any old trees with peeling bark! Can it be a Wolf Snake?
Thank you GCDruenn...so it WAS a wolf snake after all. Thanks again, I really did not think I could hope for an ID with the head hidden.