Reptiles of Agumbe, India

Xenochrophis piscator: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 27th to June 22nd 2015

Species Found:

1. Green Vine Snake (Ahaetulla nasuta)
2. Malabar Pit Viper (Trimeresurus malabaricus)
3. Hump Nosed Pit Viper (Hypnale hypnale)
4. Checkered Keelback (Xenochrophis piscator)
5. Beddome's Keelback (Amphiesma beddomei)
6. Striped Keelback (Amphiesma stolatum)
7. Travancore Wolf Snake (Lycodon travancoricus)
8. Indian Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosa)
9. Brahminy Worm Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus)
10. Indian Dwarf Gecko (Cnemaspis indraneildasii)
11. Yellow Bellied House Gecko (Hemidactylus flaviviridis)
12. Roux's Forest Lizard (Calotes rouxii)
13. Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)
14. Nilgiri Forest Lizard (Calotes nemoricola)
15. Brahminy Skink (Eutropis carinata)
16. Gunther's Snake Skink (Lygosoma guentheri)
17. Indian Flying Lizard (Draco dussumieri)

Background:

I am doing a 3 month long research project in the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats near Agumbe, Karnataka. I am working with herpetologist, Gowri Shankar, at his research base at the Kalinga Center for Raiforest Ecology. My project is titled 'Use of Artificial Cover by Reptiles and Amphibians'. I have number of sites where I have laid out tin sheets, wooden boards and roof tiles. Everyday I check under them to see if any animals are using them. I see some animals under my cover objects but most are encountered while I'm walking between sites. These are some of the reptiles that I encounter during the course of my fieldwork. [I am writing this post during a week long break. My research project ends only in August]

Green Vine Snake

Ahaetulla nasuta: PC Yatin Kalki

The Green Vine Snake is a master of camouflage. Its slender body is almost impossible to pick out in the thick vegetation of the Agumbe rainforest. Nonetheless, it is probably the most common snake in the region. It takes patience and practice to find this snake but once you have the technique down, you start to see them everywhere. A day hasn't gone by where I haven't seen a Green Vine Snake. My record is 7 in one day. These snakes will often spend multiple days resting or waiting to hunt on the same plant. Around our base, we have a few resident Green Vine Snakes which we have observed feeding, sleeping and even mating. Green Vines are diurnal, so as soon as it gets dark they curl up on a plant and go to sleep. In the dark, they are a lot easier to see by torch light.

Sleeping Ahaetulla nasuta: PC Yatin Kalki

I will often spot a Green Vine Snake at night and then return to the same spot early in the morning to watch it uncurl and get ready to hunt or move. It's horizontal pupils give it excellent depth perception, which helps it catch frogs and lizards. It then immobilizes the prey with the mild venom from its rear fangs and then proceeds to swallow. The venom is lethal to small animals but has no effect on humans.

Ambush position of Ahaetulla nasuta: PC Yatin Kalki

When threatened, Green Vine Snakes will try to escape by moving quickly through the vegetation. If they don't have a clear escape route, they will inflate their bodies and expose the interscale black and white colors, and also open their mouths. This display is just for intimidation. They are actually very calm and peaceful creatures.

Defensive position of Ahaetulla nasuta: PC Yatin Kalki

Defensive position of Ahaetulla nasuta: PC Yatin Kalki

I found the individual in both photos above by accident while walking to my site in the grassland. The grassland has a few scattered trees with rocks and scrub grass between them. I accidentally brushed past this tree while walking and there happened to be a Green Vine Snake in it. Since it was not able to escape to another tree, it first inflated its body and then opened its mouth when I started to take photos. I brought my camera pretty close to its face, but it didn't strike even once.

Malabar Pit Viper

Green Morph of Trimeresurus malabaricus: PC Yatin Kalki

These snakes are also pretty common during the monsoon season, when they breed. They are nocturnal ambush hunters, so I often see them sitting in a coiled hunting position at night. They wait for unsuspecting frogs, lizards and small mammals to cross their path and then deliver a lightning-quick strike, injecting haemotoxic venom. This venom is potent against small animals but it only causes pain and swelling in humans. They come in different colors or morphs, ranging from green to brown to even orange and yellow. I have seen about half a dozen light green individuals, 

Brown Morph of Trimeresurus malabaricus: PC Yatin Kalki

At one point, we observed courtship going on between a male and female MPV. The male was brown and about half the size of the female, who was light green. The male stayed next to the female for 3 days, occasionally nudging her and flicking his tongue but I guess he was unsuccessful because we then found the female sitting alone.

Courtship of Trimeresurus malabaricus: PC Yatin Kalki

Hump Nosed Pit Viper

Hypnale hypnale: PC Yatin Kalki

The Hump Nosed Pit Viper is another snake that is seen a lot more frequently during the monsoon season. It is not a very big snake, growing to a maximum length of about 1.5 feet. Like the Malabar Pit Viper, it is a venomous ambush hunter. Its habitat is the leaf litter of the forest and thus, it is quite hard to see due to its camouflage. The first time I saw this snake, a group of 4 of us were making our way through the forest, digging in random spots in search of a Wormsnake. We were disturbing the leaf litter a lot and as a result, a visitor in our group spotted this tiny snake crossing his path. I followed the snake to the base of a tree, where it coiled up in defense. The snake stayed in the very same spot for around 6 hours, allowing us to get a good number of photos. Since that time, I have seen 4 more individuals of this species, including one under a wooden board in the grassland.

Checkered Keelback

Xenochrophis piscator: PC Yatin Kalki

The Checkered Keelback gets its name from its checkerboard pattern and the keeled scales on its back. It is a non-venomous water snake, and perhaps the most plentiful snake in India. It was certainly one of the most common snakes at KCRE too. At least 3 times, I had gone to the edge of the pond at night, to see the tail of a thick snake disappear into the bushes before I could get a good look at it. I always suspected that it was a Checkered Keelback but I couldn't be sure. One day, I shined my light on a large Checkered Keelback in the middle of the pond. I sat down to watch as it swam to the edge of the water and started targeting a Skittering Frog on the bank. The snake slowly inched out of the water, closer to the frog. It stopped moving for a while so I decided to move down the bank to get a closer look. I climbed down and sat on a rock about 10 feet away from the snake and the frog. The snake was still moving towards the frog, when suddenly the frog took notice and hopped away. The snake was now on the bank so I moved in for photos. I managed to get less than 6 inches from the snakes head without it moving. Only when I got up after taking photos, did the snake turn around and head back into the water. I was surprised at how bold this snake had been. When I got back to camp, I told the others about it and Udit said that there was a Checkered Keelback in the area which was unafraid of humans, slithering over a visitor's foot in the past. I saw the same individual 3 more times after that, twice in the pond and once in the well.

Juvenile Xenochrophis piscator: PC Yatin Kalki

A few weeks later, I was walking through the Acacia plantation with another intern named Aishwarya when she spotted some movement in the grass. I took a closer look and found that it was a juvenile Checkered Keelback. It was only about 20 cm long and it didn't have the characteristic pattern yet, but I could tell it was a Checkered Keelback.

Patternless Xenochrophis piscator: PC Yatin Kalki

Recently, I found a Checkered Keelback under a piece of tin in the plantation. This individual didn't have the pattern but it was about 2 foot long. I could only identify it from its temperament. It just goes to show how variable the patterns can be on this species. I have also had other encounters with Checkered Keelbacks at KCRE. There was one that came into the dining hall during heavy rain and another that was in a 50 foot deep well, thriving on frogs that fell in.

Beddome's Keelback

Adult Amphiesma beddomei: PC Yatin Kalki

The Beddome's Keelback is another species commonly found in the Western Ghats. It rarely exceeds 2 feet in length and lives mostly in the leaf litter or under rocks. I found quite a few Beddome's Keelbacks under my cover objects in various places. The first Beddome's Keelback that I saw was a juvenile on my first day. I found it under a rock on a dry streambed. Since then, I have found Beddome's Keelbacks consistently under rocks in the forest and grassland.

Juvenile Amphiesma beddomei: PC Yatin Kalki

Subadult Amphiesma beddomei: PC Yatin Kalki

Striped Keelback

Amphiesma stolatum: PC Yatin Kalki

The Striped Keelback is a fairly common plains snake. It is not so common in the Western Ghats because of the rainforest. I found a single Striped Keelback in all my time at KCRE and I found it in the grassland. This was my first and only encounter with a Striped Keelback and I was reminded a lot of the Garter Snakes found in the US. Striped Keelbacks are known to be very calm and gentle snakes.

Amphiesma stolatum: PC Yatin Kalki

Travancore Wolf Snake

Lycodon travancoricus: PC Yatin Kalki

The Travancore Wolf Snake is a species found only in the Western Ghats. I had seen the Indian Wolf Snake in Bangalore but the Travancore Wolf Snake was a new find for me. This individual was found on the move near the kitchen at night. It is called a Wolf Snake because of its long front teeth that resemble canines.

Indian Rat Snake

I saw at least 3 individual Rat Snakes at KCRE but they were all so fast that I couldn't get a photo of a single one. The Rat Snakes I saw there were quite different from the ones I had seen in Bangalore. They were dark brown or black while the ones in Bangalore were greenish yellow.

Braminy Worm Snake

Ramphotyphlops braminus: PC Yatin Kalki

This species is commonly found throughout India. It is parthenogenic, which means that it can lay eggs without fertilization. I found a Wormsnake under a rock in the forest and 2 days later Gowri came and told us to collect a Wormsnake for some research. We spent weeks looking for a Wormsnake but were unsuccessful. Finally, I found one when I went to Bangalore and handed it over to Gowri. Recently, I found another Wormsnake under a rock in the grassland. It was right in the middle of an ant colony, probably feeding on the larvae.

Indian Dwarf Gecko

Cnemaspis indraneildasii: PC Yatin Kalki

This species is commonly found in the Agumbe region. I saw many of them on the walls and pillars of the dining hall, kitchen and bathroom. I had seen other Cnemaspis species before but this one was new to me.

Yellow Bellied House Gecko

Hemidactylus flaviviridis: PC Yatin Kalki

This Gecko is common throughout India, but I only saw 2 individuals around KCRE. One was found on the wall of an abandoned house and the other was found on the signs in our dining hall.

Hemidactylus flaviviridis: PC Yatin Kalki

Roux's Forest Lizard

Calotes rouxii: PC Yatin Kalki

This lizard is another endemic species. I found many of these throughout the Areca plantation and in various other places. The males have red heads with black bodies while the females are green, yellow or brown. While digging to construct a tent platform, we found 4 small eggs that we suspected were of this species. We brought them back and put them in a box with soil to let them hatch. A few weeks later, we had 4 baby Forest Lizards, which we released.

Hatchling Calotes rouxii: PC Yatin Kalki

Hatchling Calotes rouxii: PC Yatin Kalki

Oriental Garden Lizard

These are very common in Bangalore but were less common in Agumbe. I saw 3 or 4 individuals in total and all of them were very skittish, unlike the ones in Bangalore. I didn't manage to photograph any of these lizards.

Nilgiri Hills Lizard

Calotes nemoricola: PC Yatin Kalki

Udit and I found this lizard when we were walking on the stream at night. It was sleeping on a branch and I decided to come back in the morning to get photos of it. Sure enough, I found it in the same spot in the morning and proceeded to take some photos. It got disturbed by my presence and jumped off the branch and onto a rock.

Calotes nemoricola: PC Yatin Kalki

It then climbed up a different tree but now its head was a different color. Until recently, I though it was a Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes) but now I know that is a Niligiri Hills Lizard

Calotes nemoricola: PC Yatin Kalki

Brahminy Skink

Eutropis carinata: PC Yatin Kalki

Brahminy Skinks were very common around KCRE. I even ha one resting on the outside of my tent for a whole week. One memorable incident involving Brahminy Skinks happened a week or so after I arrived. Gayathri and I were flipping rocks in the forest when we found two small eggs under a rock. I didn't know what kind of eggs they were so I picked one up, inspected it and then handed it to Gayathri. She held it in her palm for a few seconds and then suddenly, the egg split open and a tiny skink jumped out, off her hand and into the leaf litter. The egg had hatched in her hand! We took the other egg back to camp and put it in a box with soil. It hatched after a few days and there was another baby skink running around in the box. I put some termites in for it to eat and surprisingly, it hunted and ate 5 termites in 10 minutes, just hours after it was born. We released this one in the place we found the eggs.

Hatchling Eutropis carinata: PC Yatin Kalki

Subadult Eutropis carinata: PC Yatin Kalki

Guenther's Snake Skink

Lygosoma guentheri: PC Yatin Kalki

Guenther's Snake Skink was a new species for me. I found them consistently under rocks and pieces of concrete near an abandoned house. I didn't find out what kind of Snake Skink it was until recently. I saw a juvenile with a red tail under a particular piece of concrete at least 10 times.

Juvenile Lygosoma guentheri: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Flying Lizard

Draco dussumieri: PC Yatin Kalki

Draco Lizards were common in the Areca plantations. They would glide between trees and signal to each other with their bright yellow dulaps. They were always too high for me to photograph, but I spent a lot of time just observing them.

Fall Herping at Allerton

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
October 11th 2014

Species Found

1. Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum)
2. Western Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)

Background:

My NRES 102 class took a field trip to Allerton National Park to learn more about conservation related field work. They had segments planned out on mammals, birds and fish, but no segment on herps. Tristan was in this class with me so we decided to do a little herping on our own.

The Trip:

We were doing a radio telemetry exercise where we were using a receiver to track down a transmitter hidden somewhere in the woods. The signal was really strong and we were searching on the ground around us for the transmitter when I saw the thin body of a small snake making its way through the leaves. I quickly grabbed it and showed it to Tristan. He identified it as a Midland Brown Snake, an extremely common species throughout America. This snake was only about a foot long and it wasn't very feisty.

Midland Brown Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Midland Brown Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

It was really cold that day so I was surprised to find a snake out and about. I really didn't think I'd find anything else but as we were listening to a professor talk about the soil, Tristan spotted a baby Fox Snake sitting in some tall grass. He picked it up and it didn't even try to resist. That was probably because it was so cold and the snake was sluggish. The Fox Snake was a pretty good looking snake and what made this particular one more interesting was that we weren't even trying to find it. Fox Snakes are constrictors that eat mostly just mammals. This small snake must have been looking for a mouse burrow or something because baby mice would be its main source of food. I posed it by covering it with my hands and Tristan and I took some good photos.

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Later on when we were taking tree measurements, one of the other guys yelled that there was a snake near him. I headed over and it was another little Midland Brown. When I picked it up, it bit me but its teeth weren't large enough to break my skin. This snake was really feisty. It coiled up and struck at me, open-mouthed. It took a good 5 minutes for it to calm down. It was kind of comical to see such a small, harmless snake behaving so aggressively so I took some videos and pictures.

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Going into this, we expected to get some new salamanders and frogs, definitely not snakes. Ironically, we didn't get a single amphibian and got 2 snake species, both of which were new for me. My Herpedex total was now 29 species.

Fall Herping in the Kankakee Sands 2

Eastern Hognosed Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
September 20th 2014

Species Found:

1. Eastern Hognosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos)
2. Chicago Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus)
3. Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
4. Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens)
5. Six Lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata)
6. Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)

Background:

Since Tristan, Noah and I had had so much fun on the last trip, we decided to go herping the very next weekend. We hadn't found nearly all the species that can be found at Kankakee so we made the 3 hour trip once again. This time, we were looking for the Eastern Hognosed Snake in particular. It is not an endangered snake or anything but due to the fact that it lives underground in burrows, it is very elusive and hard to come by. It also does a very elaborate display when it feels threatened, but more on that later. It was a bright and sunny day so we were hoping to find some snakes sunning themselves out in the open.

The Trip:

Tristan had found a spot on Google Earth where there were large wooden boards laying out on a grassy field. We hit that place first and flipped some huge wooden boards and even a door. We found plenty of Bull and Garter shed skins but no live snakes. We also found a few Six Lined Racerunners.

After about an hour of bad luck we got back in the car and went to the same junkyard from last time. That was when our luck turned. We hadn't even been looking for 10 minutes when I heard Tristan shout loudly, "Hog!". Noah and I dropped whatever we were doing and ran to see the snake. Tristan was holding a stocky snake about 2 ft long, coiled on his palm. The Hognosed was a first time species for all 3 of us so we were all keen to get a better look at it. It was a beautiful snake with dull but striking patterns and an upturned nose which gives it its name. It has a scale on the tip of its snout which is hard and used for digging. This particular specimen was a little beaten up. It had open wounds along its sides and on its underbelly. It had probably had an encounter with a predator of some sort, probably a human. When threatened, Hognosed snakes employ a very peculiar strategy. First, they flatten their neck and puff out their bodies to make themselves look more intimidating. If that doesn't work, they roll over, exposing their underside and play dead.

Eastern Hognosed Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Hognosed Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

We wanted to see the its whole performance so we provoked it a little and got it to go through the whole routine for us. As expected, it first opened its mouth and hissed, then it flattened its neck and inflated its body and after that it rolled over and played dead.

Hissing at us: PC Tristan Schramer

Flattening neck and inflating ribs: PC Tristan Schramer

Rolling over and playing dead: PC Tristan Schramer

Going back home: PC Tristan Schramer

We were sad to see the Hognosed disappear back into its rubble pile but we continued on herping. It wasn't long before Noah walked up with a baby Eastern Milk Snake in his hands. It looked like it could have been the same one we had caught the week before but after looking at photos we found that it was a different one. This one was a little smaller and more brightly colored than the last one.

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

I was happy to see another Milk Snake but I was also a little sour as I was now the only one out of the 3 of us who hadn't found a snake. However, that feeling was short lived. Turns out this was just a lucky spot. About 15 minutes later I had caught a 1 ft snake from under a wooden board. All I knew about the snake was that it was non-venomous so I had caught it without hesitation as it tried to slither away when I flipped the board. Tristan identified it as a Chicago Garter Snake, an extremely common snake with no extraordinary features, but it was still a new find at Kankakee. However commonplace everyone thought this snake was, it was still my first catch in the US  so I held it in higher esteem. I noticed that its eyes were neon blue, a sign that it would shed soon. Tristan said that he had seen at least 100 of these before and wasn't as entusiastic about taking pictures. So, these pictures are taken by me, with my phone camera.

Chicago Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Neon blue eyes before it sheds its skin: PC Yatin Kalki

Me with my first American snake catch: PC Yatin Kalki

Chicago Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

At this site we found a few more Racerunners and some Fowler's Toads but no more snakes.

Six Lined Racerunner: PC Tristan Schramer

Six Lined Racerunner: PC Tristan Schramer

Fowler's Toad: PC Tristan Schramer

Next, we were going to a disused railroad track just over the border in Indiana to look for Fox Snakes. On the way, we saw some frogs hopping on the roadside so we stopped to catch them. There was a ditch running all along the road, between the cornfield and the tar. Jumping into that ditch were hundreds of Northern Leopard Frogs. They were really hard to catch in the tall grass but we finally caught a few and took some pictures.

Northern Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

When we got to the railroad, the sky was getting dark and a storm was rolling in. We figured we had already come all this way, might as well go out and see what we can find, so we started walking along the tracks, flipping old planks. We still hadn't found anything when the rain started. By the time we reached the car, which was 2 miles away, we were soaked to the bone. We endured the 3 hour ride back in our drenched state. Noah wasn't too pleased with the condition of his car seats though.

From this trip, I added 3 more species to my American Herp List, putting my total at 9.