Category: Snakes
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New Species In 2023 Named After Celebrities
DiCaprio’s snail-eating snake (Sibon irmelindicaprioae) This snake is found in the Chocó-Darién Gap forests of eastern Panama and western Colombia. Actor and conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio named it in honor of his mother, Irmelin Indenbirken. Venomius tomhardyi This new species of orb-weaver spider found in southern Western Australia east to Tasmania was named after Tom Hardy because the pattern of black spots on the…
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Talking About Wildlife Education On The News
I brought the journalists to a school where I presented animals at.
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On Live TV Show With My Chameleon And Snake
I was invited to go live on TV for RTHK 31 All Being Well with Alyson Hau and Ben Cullen. The entire team and the production are so professional. There’s no script and I didn’t have much prepared in advance. That’s fun! They learned about animals. I learned how a live TV show is produced…
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Blue Viper Strikes In Slo-Mo | The Longest 15 Seconds
This is one of my captive-bred Komodo Island Pit Vipers feeding in slo-mo
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Formosa Kukri Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 台灣小頭蛇 – 香港野生動物
The Formosa kukri snake is also known as Taiwan kukri snake or beautiful kukri snake. In spite of its name, the natural range of this species is not limited to Taiwan but also Vietnam, Japan (Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama), China including Hong Kong, and Hainan. It is a small snake growing to usually…
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I Found The Deadliest Snake in the World
The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) the most venomous snake in the world with a murine LD 50 value of 0.025 mg/kg SC. I was lucky to encounter some in my field trips to Australia.
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Blind Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 盲蛇 – 香港野生動物
This 4-inch noodle I found in my backyard is a fully-grown blind snake — one of the smallest snakes in the world. Eyesight is never an important sense of snakes. But most snakes do see and have exposed, visible eyeballs. However, as the name suggests, blind snakes are completely blind. The eyes can’t form images,…
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Pit Vipers of Asia – A Few of the Eye Candies That Won’t Kill You
Many Kiwis, Hawaiians, and Europeans who recently moved to Asia like to tell me how wonderful Asia is and how much they love living in Asia. But there is this one specific nightmare that is bothering them – snakes. I say it’s fair enough to have snakes here. As the largest continent on earth and…
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Komodo Island Pit Viper (Trimeresurus insularis)
The Komodo dragon is not the only animal in Komodo Island that makes me visit over and over again. This snake has always been the second sought-after species in my previous trips to Komodo Island. The Sunda Island pitviper (a.k.a. Lesser Sunda Island pit viper, White-lipped island pit viper, or Blue insularis viper) is native…
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Ouroboros: The Snake That Eats Itself
Life, death, and rebirth. Ouroboros (or uroboros) — an ancient symbol depicting a reptile eating its own tail. It symbolizes fertility in some religions. The tail is a phallic symbol (an erect penis). The mouth is a yonic (vagina) or womb-like symbol. In real life, it happens. Although not common, I have seen snakes eating…
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Mangrove Pit Viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus)
Taking close-up photos of venomous snakes is always my kind of adrenaline booster. This one was even more exciting with me knowing the fact that there’s no antivenin specifically made for this snake. Bites are treated with polyvalent antivenin in SE Asian hospitals. The Mangrove pit viper (a.k.a. Mangrove viper, Shore pit viper, or Purple-spotted…
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Common Wolf Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 白環蛇 – 香港野生動物
Not only pet snakes can have designer morphs. The Wolf Snake is native to a large range of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Individuals of the same species from different locations appear to be very different. Patterns can be variable from patches, collars to bands. Coloration also varies from black, brownish, grayish, olive, to yellowish,…
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King Cobra – Hong Kong Wildlife | 眼鏡王蛇 – 香港野生動物
Every time I ask a boy or a young man, “What’s your favorite snake?” I definitely hear King cobra more than any other snakes! Despite the fact that it doesn’t have the deadliest venom when compared to the Inland taipan, the King cobra still holds a special place in many boys’ hearts as “the most…
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Oriental Ratsnake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 水律 – 香港野生動物
One of the most commonly seen snakes in Hong Kong, non-venomous, growing to 150 to up to 255 cm. The Oriental ratsnake (Ptyas mucosa) is also known as Common ratsnake, Indian rat snake, ghora pachar, darash or dhaman. The proper form of the species name is mucosa, as Ptyas is a feminine word form. Older…
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Burmese Python – Hong Kong Wildlife | 蟒蛇 – 香港野生動物
Gentle giant – the Burmese python is the largest native species in Hong Kong (in length) which I feel more comfortable catching than many smaller snakes. Not saying they won’t bite though. Size does matter, but length or girth?Wild pythons in Hong Kong used to be much larger back in the 50s. The record-holder was…
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Many-banded Krait – Hong Kong Wildlife | 銀環蛇 – 香港野生動物
Many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus), or Multi-banded krait, is much smaller than its cousin Banded Krait (Bungarus fasciatus) but is surprisingly deadlier – the most venomous krait in the world! DistributionIn Hong Kong, it’s widely distributed in New Territories and on some islands. Outside Hong Kong, it’s found in much of central and southern China and…
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Banded Krait – Hong Kong Wildlife | 金環蛇 – 香港野生動物
Strangely, this is a “tame” kind of deadly snake. This kind of black-and-yellow rarely bites, but if it does it’s gonna kill. The Banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) is a large, venomous snake growing to anywhere from 100 up to 210 cm (3’3″ to 6’11”). It is larger but less venomous than its cousin, the Many-banded…
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Bamboo Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 青竹蛇 – 香港野生動物
This green beauty is responsible for the vast majority of snake bites in Hong Kong, or possibly southern Asia. Trimeresurus albolabris (Gray, 1842)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ReptiliaOrder: SquamataSuborder: SerpentesFamily: ViperidaeGenus: (Cryptelytrops) TrimeresurusSpecies: albolabris Where in HK?Very common – low hilly areas, grasslands, cultivated fields Size: 50 – 90 cm / 1’8″ – 2’11”Distribution: Southern AsiaHabitat: ArborealDiet:…
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Why Kobe Bryant is called Black Mamba but The Snake is Not Black
Why did Kobe Bryant choose Black Mamba when there are cobra, viper, rattlesnake, tiger snake, krait, and 600 other venomous snakes in the world? Let me recap a few cool things about this snake probably most people didn’t know: Why “Black” Mamba When It’s Not Black?Its body is not black but olive, yellowish-brown, khaki or…