sgbeachbum: pit viper

Showing posts with label pit viper. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

croc-a-viper @ sg buloh - march 2014

Spotted an unusual 'S' curve on the water beside a tree through some vegetation. It looked a bit rough. A closer look through the lens confirmed it to be a snake...most likely a mangrove pit viper (a.k.a. shore pit viper). It soon started moving and i saw its head.

This was definitely a pit viper. It must have got caught by the fast rising tide on a low branch and had to take to the water to get to higher wood. It kept swimming to various stems in the water but did not get a snakehold on any of them. After some time on the water surface, it managed to slither up the bark of a small tree. As it moved further up, a small stem with leaves slightly below it moved as well. I did not think that the movement was caused by the snake as it was a rather small snake (about 35 cm long) and was unlikely to cause such movement.

Looking down, i saw an elongated dark log just below the snake. It had not been there before when the snake had started moving up. I then noticed that the dark log had teeth...very sharp teeth. It was quickly obvious that the snake's swimming on the water surface around the tree had caused a perceptible disturbance which alerted the nearby crocodile to investigate.

The croc eyed the viper for a few seconds before opening its mouth targeting the snake. I had initially assumed that the croc had succeeded in ending the viper's earth time as i could not see any trace of the viper after the croc targeted it. The croc moved away to a nearby rut along the waterline.

I wondered if the viper could inflict a bite on the croc. The mangrove pit viper is a highly venomous snake after all.

croc-a-viper from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

(background audio recorded separately on site closeby - dubbed in during editing as mic was switched off during original video recording)

This particular croc is known as the 'Tailless' croc because it was missing its tail after some unfortunate encounter presumably with another croc. 'Tailless' or 'half-a croc' is now one of the larger crocs in the reserve and frequently moves between the main bridge area and the adjacent saltwater pond served by the sluice gate near the main bridge. It was waiting to move from the mangrove into the pond due to the rising tide. Crocs prefer dry land or shallow water to rest in so that they do not have to constantly raise their heads and nostrils above the water to breathe air. They would have to constantly do this if stuck in deeper water.

A few minutes later, I saw the pit viper on a nearby low branch. It appeared fine and must have escaped the croc's jaws. Perhaps there had been a exercise of professional courtesy... between two reptiles with unforgiving personalities.

Read more about these amazing animals :-

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/reptilia/porosus.htm

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/snakes/purpureomaculatus.htm
and also about the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve : https://www.sbwr.org.sg

Sunday, August 5, 2012

mangrove pit viper @ lim chu kang - 04Aug2012

This little critter was found late into the pre-National Day Lim Chu Kang cleanup and of all places, right outside a staging point on the beach and before the mangrove proper. At the start of the cleanup, seeing some of the Cleanup volunteers heading into the mangrove behind the beach, I took the oppurtunity to tell them about keeping a good lookout for snakes especially the mangrove or shore pit viper. (I had read that there were pit vipers in the Lim Chu Kang mangroves though i had never seen one myself despite quite a few trips into this mangrove.)

It was only much later when the group was preparing to remove the collected trash that someone spotted the dark maroon snake coiled around a low branch on a small tree on the beach right near to where the supplies (trash bags, gloves etc.) had been kept.

Once its existence was known, the cleanup volunteers were informed to keep their distance from the tree so as not to invite an unfortunate defensive bite from the snake. The tiny snake, which could have been about 25cm long, hardly moved at all and I think it thought it was doing a good job blending in with the tree and minding its own business.

Best to let sleeping snakes lie and keep a respectful distance.

mangrove pit viper @ lim chu kang - 04Aug2012 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Read more about the cleanup :
The 37 volunteers cleared 83 trash bags containing 669kg of trash (not including bulky items which were not weighed).
http://coastalcleanup.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/pre-national-day-coastal-cleanup-2012/
http://www.purplemangrove.blogspot.sg/2012/08/iccs-pre-national-day-coastal-cleanup.html (in mandarin)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

a secretive pit viper @ SBWR

Shore Pit Vipers are occasionally seen in the mangrove areas such as SBWR and in the Lim Chu Kang mangroves - coastal forest in the North-Western corner of Singapore. They have also been seen on Singapore's Pulau Semakau and at places like the Changi boardwalk. These locations pretty much spot this snake all around coastal Singapore. This is a highly venemous snake species and are rather unpredictable as they stay very still despite any movement nearby and may only strike out when their comfort zone is breached. During the day, they commonly rest on plants between about two to about five feet off the ground. This spells trouble for anyone walking through the mangroves who unwittingly brushes against the wrong bush or bunch of leaves.

This particular specimen frequently habits the bushes to the right of the main bridge at SBWR near Hide 1A. It was resting along a small branch and it's middle was rather thick as if it had recently eaten something. In the clip, which was a combination of shorter clips shot over about 5 hours one morning, the snake hardly moved at all. However, at the 1.21 mark, it starts to exercise its jaws and at about 2.20 it gives a good yawn where you can just about make out its left fang (covered with its protective soft tissue). For a small snake, it sure does have long fangs!