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Chrysopelea paradisi
Colubridae; Chrysopelea; Chrysopelea paradisi Boie, 1827. Although I did not take this picture personally, but I am familiar with it as it is quite common here. It's common name, Paradise Flying Snake, is not an exact description as it can't truly fly. Some websites say that it glides, but having seen it, in the air, I can say that it has a very limited ability to slow its descent by flattening its body shape slightly. It is more like a parachute jump - it can really only go down with not too much directional control. This snake is very mildly venemous, but the venom is not harmful to humans (according to Wikipedia).
This snake, between 3ft and 4ft long, was spotted on a piece of land being cleared and levelled in preparation for a new solar power station.
I did not take this photo. It was taken by my nephew (at his workplace), using his cell phone camera. He gave me a copy of the picture with his permission to publish it on Project Noah.
Spotted on Jul 20, 2023
Submitted on Jul 21, 2023
5 Comments
Oops John, it wasn't meant to be a correction...I was genuinely asking. Just a few days back there was a report of a 10 feet Cobra being rescued...long snakes fascinate me.
Music to my ears too. Of late stories of snake rescues are trickling in, in India too...reported in newspapers. So, hopefully awareness is stirring somewhere. I end this day on a happy note, thanks to your update and bless this global giant company too.
I thought you might like to know, Sukanya, that I was talking to my nephew, over dinner, this evening about his picture of the snake and my mistake concerning its length. Duriing our chat, he told me something I thought you (and others in Project Noah) might be pleased to hear. I asked him what happened to the snake and he explained that it had jumped from a tree and landed in the middle of a group of workers who were on their lunch break. At this point, I braced myself, expecting to hear that they had killed it, but to my absolute delight, he told me that they all stood up and backed away so that the snake was able to slither away into the grasses. He explained further that the company which owns the project made it very clear to the contractors and their workforce that no wildlife is to be harmed in any way. If that rule is broken, the contracter would lose his contract and would never be allowed to work again for the owner (a large global company). Music to my ears.
Thank you for your gentle correction, Sukanya. I should have been much more careful. I have checked properly now and see that the maximum length is between 4ft and 5ft. So, it cannot be a juvenile. Apologies for my error. I have ammended the spotting.
I thought this snake was very long..but read that it is a juvenile. The adults must be really, really long.