Been busy (lazy!!! :D)

Dorsal view of a Mountain Pipe Snake (Anomochilus monticola). Montane forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Feel free to guess which end is the head.



Ventral view of a Mountain Pipe Snake (Anomochilus monticola), and an in-flight Provespa sp. wasp. These wasps are really nasty. They are attracted to our headlamp/flashlight and sting us, unprovoked. The sting is extremely painful. Montane forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.



Sabah Flying Gecko (Ptychozoon rhacophorus) from the montane forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.



Up close with a Sabah Pitviper (Trimeresurus sabahi) from the montane forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.





Dark-headed Cat Snake (Boiga nigriceps) from Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia.



Mossy Bush Frog (Philautus macroscelis) from the montane forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.





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Borneo Herp Tour June 2018: http://www.orionherpadventure.com/borneo.html

Very nice pics!

Like the green snake head shot.

Don

Thanks for looking and commenting, Fulvio, Donald.

So which is the head? The black end or the red end of that first snake?

Thanks. Nosy question - have you ever been bit and venom-injected by a venomous snake (as opposed to being mouthed but not injected) ? If so, is anti-venom sera quickly available once you get to hospital? This is an odd topic in a photo forum, more appropriate for a herp forum, but I remember reading that anti-venom sera production worldwide is down and not enough for anticipated needs, and that making recombinant "humanized" antibodies might be one way to solve the scarcity problem and also improve the outcome (avoids possible reaction against the horse serum). Basically snake anti-venom sera are "orphan drugs", big drug companies don't want to bother, not profitable enough.

I went to Belize recently, and everyone warns against the "tommygoff", Bothrops asper, a viper that has the bad combination of 1. goes into human inhabited areas including houses 2. high volume venom injection and powerful bite to deliver it 3. large and can strike above the knee 4. more aggressive, relative to the crankiest, nastiest snake I know endemic in my area (Agkistrodon piscivoris, aka "water moccasin", "cottonmouth").

P.S. It's finally warming up! Time for me to visit "Snake Road" in a southern Illinois national forest - the only road (admittedly, a gravel forest access road) in the USA that is closed twice a year for snake migration from the holes in the limestone bluff on one side of the road to the swamp on the other side of the road. This is my best neighborhood (within 3 hour drive) herp destination, I like to go at least once or twice a year.

Another article about Snake Road:


I try to get there early in the day to also see migrating birds and to get there before the teenage crowd shows up.

Snakes are rarely aggressive. And they do not invade our space. It is we human that invade theirs.

Never been envenomated and intent to keep it that way. Government hospitals in Malaysia should have most of the antivenins.

All are beautiful shots. The viper....wow!! I'd love to know what type of flash (on/off camera) you use.

I respect that I am in their home. If I don't recognize a snake on sight from a distance, I am very cautious about not startling it, get my telephoto macro shot of it, then stay put and stamp on the ground to get its attention and let it move off-trail. I may creep up on it if it isn't a pit viper (99% of local snakes are non-venomous, the rest are pit vipers, there are no coral snakes reported). I have enough common sense that I don't stick my hand into holes in the rock / ground / tree. My worry is when one walks into one by accident. Yes, I step ON the log, before stepping over the log, to give any hiding snake a warning. Off trail bushwhacking, and boating (water-favoring venomous snakes such as the water moccasin / cottonmouth / swamp rattlesnake), are two examples of situations where accidents are more likely to happen.

I likely would benefit from attending a local herp society that has an emphasis on field herpetology.

The idea that a venomous snake may frequently hang out on a concrete or bricked patio surrounded by a small cultivated lawn and ornamental plantings (with parkland nearby) - that I find a bit unnerving. Scorpions I can deal with (and have done, chasing it around the living room with a broom). One Belizean told me that garlic rubbed on the walkway and door frames repels these yellow-jaw tommygoffs (Bothrops asper) - I don't know if he was trying to have me on, I gather that telling tall tales to gullible tourists is a popular pastime. The garlic might repel human visitors too! :-D

Beautiful creatures to behold! Very nice framing to create attractive compositions.

- Richard

Blind Bill said:

All are beautiful shots. The viper....wow!! I'd love to know what type of flash (on/off camera) you use.

Click to expand...

Thanks! A diffused Canon 270EX on hot shoe. Something like this:

http://orionmystery.blogspot.my/2012/12/melvyns-macro-rig.html

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Borneo Herp Tour June 2018: http://www.orionherpadventure.com/borneo.html

Nancy, wear wellington boots when you're out in the bush/trail.