Chrysopelea (Flying Snake)

Chrysopelea (Flying Snake)

Description:
 Chrysopelea, or more commonly known as the flying snake, is a genus that belongs to the family Colubridae. Flying snakes are mildly venomous,though they are considered harmless because their toxicity is not dangerous to humans.Their range is in Southeast Asia (the mainland, Greater and Lesser Sundas, Maluku, and the Philippines), southernmost China, India, Sri Lanka.

Habitat:
Chrysopelea ornata ornattissima is a flexible snake. It can be found in forests, on plantations, in gardens and in houses. This snake is regularly found in the inner city areas of Bangkok and Pattaya. As they feed on rodents, geckos and other lizards, they are often found on and in houses. These snakes are active during the day, can climb walls and are very fast.

Gliders:
Chrysopelea is also known under its assigned common name "flying snake". It glides by using its ridge scales along its belly,pushing against rough bark surface of tree trunks, allowing it to move vertically up a tree. Upon reaching the end of a tree's branch, the snake continues moving until its tail dangles from the branch's end. It then makes a J-shape bend,leans forward to select the level of inclination it wishes to travel to control its flight path, as well as selecting a desired landing area. Once it decides on a destination, it propels itself by thrusting its body up and away from the tree, sucking in its stomach, flaring out its ribs to turn its body in a "pseudo concave wing all the while making a continual serpentine motion of lateral undulation[9] parallel to the ground to stabilise its direction in midair in order to land safely.

The combination of sucking in its stomach and making a motion of lateral undulation in the air makes it possible for the snake to glide in the air, where it also manages to save energy compared to travel on the ground and dodge terrestrial bounded predators.The concave wing that a snake creates in sucking its stomach, flattens its body to up to twice its width from back of the head to the anal vent, which is close to the end of the snake's tail, causes the cross section of the snake's body to resemble the cross section of a frisbee or flying disc.When a flying disc spins in the air, the designed cross sectional concavity causes increased air pressure under the centre of the disc, causing lift for the disc to fly.A snake continuously moves in lateral undulation to create the same effect of increased air pressure underneath its arched body to glide.Flying snakes are able to glide better than flying squirrels and other gliding animals, despite the lack of limbs, wings, or any other wing-like projections, gliding through the forest and jungle it inhabits with the distance being as great as 100 m.Their destination is mostly predicted by ballistics; however, they can exercise some in-flight attitude control by "slithering" in the air.

venom:
If they feel threatened and cannot flee, they bite straight away. The species Chrysopelea belongs to the family of rearfanged snakes. However, the venom so mild that it does not have much of an effect on humans. 

Diet: 

Chrysopelea are diurnal, which means they hunt during the day. They prey upon lizards, frogs, birds and bats.

 

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Acanthophis hawkei (Barkly Tableland Death Adder)

Acanthophis is a genus of elapid snakes. Commonly called death adders, they are native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and are among the most venomous snakes in the world. The name of the genus derives from the Ancient Greek acanthos/ἄκανθος "spine" and ophis/ὄφις "snake", referring to the spine on the death adder's tail.

Seven species are listed by ITIS,[1] though it remains unclear how many species this genus includes, with figures ranging from 4 to 15 species being quoted

Description

Death adders are very viper-like in appearance, having a short, robust body, triangular shaped heads and small subocular scales. They also have vertical pupils and many small scales on the top of the head. Their fangs are also longer and more mobile than for most other elapids, although still far from the size seen in some of the true vipers. Despite their name and appearance, they are not vipers at all. This is a case of convergent evolution.

They normally take 2–3 years to reach adult size. Females are generally slightly larger than the males. They can also be easily distinguished from other Australian snakes because of a small, worm like lure on the end of their tail, which is used to attract prey. Most have large bands around their bodies, though the color itself is variable, depending on their locality. Colors are usually black, grey or red and yellow, but also include brown and greenish-grey

Hunting

Unlike most snakes, death adders do not actively hunt, but rather lie in ambush and draw their prey to them. When hungry, death adders bury themselves amongst the substrate. This may be leaf litter, soil or sand, depending on their environment. The only part of themselves they expose are their head and their tail, both generally very well camouflaged. The end of the tail is used for caudal luring and when wiggled is easily mistaken for a grub or worm. An unsuspecting bird or mammal will eventually notice the 'easy lunch' and attempt to seize it. Only then will the death adder move, lashing out with the quickest strike of any snake in the world.[2] A death adder can go from a strike position, to strike and envenoming their prey, and back to strike position again, in less than 0.15 of a second.

Venom

Death adders can inject on average 40–100 mg of highly toxic venom with a bite. The LD50 of the venom was reported as 0.4–0.5 mg/kg subcutaneous and it is completely neurotoxic, containing neither haemotoxins nor myotoxins, unlike most venomous snakes.

A bite from a death adder can cause paralysis which seems minor at first but can cause death from a complete respiratory shutdown in six hours. Symptoms of envenomation can be reversed through the use of death adder antivenom, or using anticholinesterases, which break the synaptic blockade by making acetylcholine more available to the parasympathetic nervous system, thus mitigating the effects of the venom.

Before antivenom was introduced, it is reported that about 50% of death adder bites were fatal. Deaths are much rarer nowadays as the anti-venom is widely available and the progression of envenomation symptoms is slow.

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Farancia (Mud Snake)

Farancia is a genus of colubrid snakes. It consists of two species, one commonly referred to as the rainbow snake and the other commonly referred to as the mud snake. They are native to the eastern half of the United States.

Description

Farancia species can grow to a length of 30-54 inches. They are usually uniform dark brown or black with a brightly colored underside that is red or orange. Rainbow snakes exhibit red striping down their back.

Behaviour
The snakes of this genus are typically semi-aquatic. Living in the muddy edges of slow moving, permanent water sources. Their diet consists primarily of amphiumas, eels, and sirens. Breeding occurs in early spring, and eggs are laid in a burrow near the water in early summer. The clutch incubates between 8–12 weeks, and hatches in mid-autumn.

Species

    Farancia abacura - Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky.
        Eastern Mud Snake, Farancia abacura abacura (Holbrook, 1836)
        Western Mud Snake, Farancia abacura reinwardtii (Schlegel, 1837)
    Farancia erytrogramma - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
        Rainbow Snake, Farancia erytrogramma erytrogramma (Palisot de Beauvois, 1802)
        Florida Rainbow Snake, Farancia erytrogramma seminola (Neill, 1964)

Geographic range

The mud snake is found primarily in the southeastern United States, in the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky.


Cultural Significance

The mud snake is one of a few animals which may be the origin of the hoop snake myth. J.D. Wilson Writes:
“     Mud snakes are sometimes known as “hoop snakes” because of the myth that they will bite their own tail and roll after people.[1]     ”

The hoop snake myth has also been attributed to the Coachwhip snake.

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