Name that Snake
I had friends coming over today, and was planning to sit outside for tea and sunshine. Wearing shorts and sandals, I went out to clean up the yard a bit . I had an old tarp piled up under the picnic table, so I laid it out over the fence to dry out. When I turned to clean up some trash that was lying under the tarp, I realized it was actually a snake (our first of the season)!
Luckily, it was a hot day, and it was still sleeping when I uncovered it, as I’d had my bare foot almost on top of it while I unfolded the tarp. I was able to get my ’snake grabber’ from the house and catch it before it started moving around. There was a large plastic storage box in the yard, so I dumped it in and locked the lid tight. I’m not generally too nervous around snakes, but we have several very poisionous ones that appear in our community frequently, and I’ve actually seen 3 on the roads in the past two weeks.
We decided to call security to come and pick it up - they usually take them out to a wild area lower down our mountain and release them (at least that’s what they tell us). The guard told us it was his third snake that day, and the smallest of the three, but what it lacked in size it made up for in attitude. After getting it into the bag, it took two of us to keep it there long enough to pull the drawstring tight and secure it.
It goes without saying that our guests were no longer in the mood to sit outside (it was a bit too hot anyway) so we moved into the tea room. I’ll report on that in the Tea Reports section of the blog. My problem now is getting a clear idea of what type of snake it is. We put the Chinese name into several translation programs, but kept getting literal translations of the characters, which doesn’t help much. It’s possible that it’s a kind of krait, but I don’t think it has the right type of bands. The first person to positively ID this for me or give me other information on it will be eligible for a free tea sample (150g), so put on your thinking caps or call your reptile-loving friends!
May 19th, 2008 at 3:34 am
errie Says:
Hello TeaGuy,
I think this snake called “Dinodon rufozonatum walli”.
You can check these sites to compare the photos
Let me know what you think!
errie
http://baikada.com/JSM/?cat=6
(Look 17th photo)
http://www.d7.dion.ne.jp/~channa/sakisima.htm
http://bbs.cngui.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=79&id=74399&page=&move=next
May 19th, 2008 at 10:22 am
teaguy Says:
Thanks errie! The pictures of the young snake that you pointed out do look a lot like the one I caught. The Chinese name I was given by our security guys translates as ‘pointed-scaled pit viper’, but the pictures I’ve seen of those don’t really match. I wonder if the adults and young snakes are just really different. The one I caught was probably 4 ft long, but was pretty thin. I’ll need to do more research after class today, so stay tuned!
May 31st, 2008 at 11:13 am
neil Says:
Hi There,
I was doing some googles looking for a comprehensive list of snakes in Taiwan in English and I came across this: http://www.formosanfattire.com/feature/snakes_in_taiwan/poisonous_snakes.htm
It might be the “Banded Krait” but I’m not sure.
Cheers.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:55 am
teaguy Says:
Thanks Neil. I’ve come across (and run over!) several of the snakes listed there, especially when I lived in Nantou. About half of my Chinese friends here think that my snake is a krait, but we don’t yet have a consensus. I appreciate your taking time to post, and will update when I get a definitive response.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:30 am
teaguy Says:
Shaun sent in a post regarding the snake, and I accidentally deleted it instead of approving it. Luckily he also posted a reply here:
http://www.snaketracks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1937#1937
I’m pasting his comments in for reference. My apologies for the mistake, and thanks for the information Shaun!
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject: Keep well away!!!!!!1
You need to be very wary of this snake!
It is a Taiwanese Banded Krait .
If bitten, death will come within two hours.
We used to call them “Minute Snakes”, by the time you realise you have been bitten, you have a minute to live.
More American sevicemen died from this snake’s relatives, than by the NVA and VC combined.
You won’t feel the bite and it moves faster than the eye can see. KILL IT!
July 17th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Jim Liou Says:
It’s what we Taiwanese call 雨傘節, which literally translates into “umbrella snake”.
http://content.ndap.org.tw/main/dc_detail.php?dc_id=2449962
http://www.ymsnp.gov.tw/html/ENG/01information/inf_d02_main.asp?sn=6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungarus_multicinctus
I surely hope the security guard keep his word and release it, considering 雨傘節 is a protected animal.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:14 am
teaguy Says:
Thanks for the links Jim. The picture in your first link is the closest I’ve seen yet to ‘my baby’. My Taiwanese friends are still arguing about what it is. I’ll see if your links change their minds!