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Indo-Chinese Rat Snake
Ptyas korros
26.1806, 91.7539
Field Notes
Description:
Ptyas korros, commonly known as the Chinese ratsnake or Indo-Chinese rat snake, is a species of colubrid snake endemic to Southeast Asia.
Snout obtuse, projecting; eye very large. Rostral visible from above; internasals shorter than the prefrontals; frontal as long as its distance from the tip of the snout or a little longer, as long as the parietals; two or three loreals; a large preocular, sometimes touching the frontal; a small subocular below; two postoculars; temporals 2 + 2; eight upper labials, fourth and fifth entering the eye; five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior.
Dorsal scales smooth or feebly keeled on the posterior part of the body, in 15 rows at midbody; ventrals 160-177; anal divided; sub-caudals 122-145.
Brown or olive above; the scales on the posterior part of the body and on the tail often yellow and edged with black. Lower surface yellow. Young specimens with transverse series of round whitish spots or with narrow yellow transverse bars.
Length of head and body 1,080 mm (43 in); tail 700 mm (28 in).
Habitat:
A harmless snake of agricultural and forested areas, this species preys on rats, frogs and other small vertebrates. It is diurnal, and mainly a ground-dweller. Most encounters with the Indochinese Rat Snake occur as the snake attempts to cross rural roads.
We spotted it up on the Kharguli Hills in Guwahati.
Notes:
It can be identified by the olive coloured tail with dark-edged scales, and the faint pale brown banding which occurs on the thickest part of the body (though this feature does not occur in mature adults). Its eyes are relatively large.
The species ranges from India, through Burma, Thailand and Indochina, down to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and the sundaic islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali.
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