Rat Snake
Ptyas mucosa
22.5726, 88.3639
Field Notes
Description:
Slim snake with dark markings.
Habitat:
It entered my neighbour's bird cage and fatally injured one small finch. Other birds were saved and the snake was let go...in the first photo the snake can be seen escaping. It was very swift.
Notes:
This non venomous snake inflates its necks when threatened. This adaptation may represent mimicry of the king cobra or Indian cobra ...bad move because people get scared and kill it anyway!
2 birds escaped and will probably die because these albino birds are conspicuous and also have no survival skills in the wild.
There is a belief that this snake uses its tail as a whip and the area it touches, usually people's legs, turns gangrenous. So, locals affirm that the venom is in the tail...no amount of explaining can convince them otherwise.
On 5 May 2016 this snake entered my neighbour's house again and ate two birds. Then it entered their almirah. When my neighbours tried to drive it out, it made the fatal mistake of pretending to be a Cobra. They were taken in and killed it.
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