Common Bronzeback Tree Snake

 

Common name: Common Bronzeback Tree Snake

Scientific name: Dendrelaphis tristis

Tamil name: கொம்பேறி மூக்கன்

Toxicity: Non-venomous

Distribution: India & South East Asia

Characteristic feature: Excellent vision & Gyroscopic head

Diet: Frogs, Lizards and small birds

Habitat:

• Forest and human habitations with a lot of trees

• They are usually found in the open on trees or dense bushes and rarely hide.

Identification feature:

• Long, slender body with a wide bronze stripe along its body and a yellowish-white belly.

• Flathead, stripe across an eye and white spot on top of the head.

• Grow to four feet on average.

Behaviour:

• Diurnal & Arboreal 

• Regularly jump in trees at extended heights 

• When threatened, it inflates the neck and displays a blue interscale pattern.

Other species:

Ten other species of bronze back are found in India. Only four are located in peninsular India. All of them endemic to the Western Ghats.

1. Ashok Bronzeback Tree snake 

2. Southern Bronzeback Tree snake 

3. Giri Bronzeback Tree snake 

4. Large-eyed Bronzeback Tree snake

Myths:

Locals believe it is a venomous snake and that anyone who is bitten by it, will die. The snake would watch the dead person cremated in the crematorium from a tall palmyra palm tree near the crematorium and then leave.

Reference: https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/1331752