THE THREE GREEN SNAKES

Venomous Bamboo Pit Viper

Mild Venomous Green Vine Snake

Non Venomous Green Grass Snake

BAMBOO PIT VIPER (TRIMERESURUS GRAMINEUS): Trimeresurus gramineus goes by many common names; Bamboo pit viper, Indian tree viper, green tree viper, and Bamboo snake. Specifically, Trimeresurus is Latin for "three part tail", presumably named after the tripartite pattern of the tail. As for the specific epithet, T. gramineus, is Latin for grassy, probably for the grassy colour of the pit viper scales. Here is some more information of the linage of the Bamboo pit viper. Geographic Range: Pit vipers span a huge portion of the world. In Asia, pit vipers extend from eastern Europe to Japan and Indonesia. Specifically, the Bamboo pit viper is mostly found in the dense jungles of Southern India. Some Individual snakes may be in other Southeast Asia countries like China and Nepal, but for the most part this species is isolated in southern India. The Bamboo pit vipers prefer the cool environment created by dense jungle or bamboo foliage. Bamboo pit vipers are often found close to streams, where there is an abundance of small prey to hunt. The thick foliage provides for coverage for the Bamboo pit viper to hide from prey and predator, as well as coverage from the unpredictable jungle weather. The climate in Southern India is mostly a warm, wet, tropical climate. Like most snakes, pit vipers are solitary creatures, coming together only to mate. However, Bamboo pit vipers interact with smaller prey and larger predator mammals. Ideally a Bamboo pit viper would live in an environment where there is only prey and no predators. Obviously, this is unlikely, so the Bamboo pit vipers have many adaptations that allow them to hide from predators and catch prey. The pit vipers also share their environment with other organisms such as the Asian elephant and the red panda, though there is not much interaction between Bamboo pit vipers and larger animals.

Like many other organisms, the Bamboo pit viper is threatened by human expansion into their habitat. India's population is increasing very rapidly, and as humans tear down the jungles in southern India, they are destroying the Bamboo pit vipers home. Because these pit vipers are only found in a small part of the world, destroying their habitat can happen quickly, and the Bamboo pit viper could become extinct in a very short time. Hopefully, laws will soon be created to protect the Bamboo pit viper's home before its too late.

Reproduction: Mating: Pit vipers reproduce sexually by means of internal fertilization. To do this the male penetrates the female with the hemipenes organ at the base of his tail. No specific rating ritual has been seen between the males and females, though males are known to sometimes fight for the right to mate with a female. Snakes are solitary animals, so the male leaves soon after mating and does not share any responsibility with the young. The miracle of birth: Pit Vipers are classified as ovoviviparous. This means the female produces eggs, but they hatch inside the female and thus she gives birth to live young. This is unusual in the Reptile class of organisms, a feature unique to certain families of the Squamata order. The litter size of the pit vipers varies, but is typically 4 to 5 young. Variation in litter size can be caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Studies have shown that females with a larger mass and more energy reserves will give

birth to a larger litter. Likewise, in regions where resources are plentiful, larger litter sizes have been observed then in regions suffering from drought or other environmental factors. Young: Young pit vipers are around 18cm in length and tend to exhibit brighter colour scales, especially at the tail. The brighter colours are used to attract frogs and other prey. The young are also venomous and able to hunt on their own, and are therefore independent of the mother, who leaves soon after birth. Facts about Bamboo Pit Viper: The Bamboo pit viper's fangs are a hollow tube hooked up to venom producing sacks behind the snakes eyes. Bamboo pit viper fangs are so long that they fold up to the roof of the viper's mouth so they wont bite themselves. If a snake loses a fang, it will simply grow another one. Bamboo pit vipers hunt mostly at night by using heat sensing pit organs. Have you ever wonder how a snake breathes when their mouth is full of prey? Snakes have small tubes in the back of their throat that stick out far enough to draw air in so they won't pass out while trying to swallow. A snakes throat takes up to a third of its body. Why do snakes not blink? Because they don't have eyelids! Instead, snake eyes are covered with a clear scale called a spectacle. How does a pit viper smell? Not with its nose! Instead, it sticks out its tongue to collect scents. When the tongue is drawn back in the mouth it touches the Jacobson's organ on the roof of the mouth, which tells the pit viper what it is smelling Bamboo pit vipers are deaf. While they cannot hear, snakes can sense vibrations with the Jacobson's organ to give them a sense of what's around them.

INDIAN GREEN VINE SNAKE (AHAETULLA NASUTA)

Green Vine Snake with pretty geometrical colour pattern is also called the Long-nosed Whipped Snake. Ahaetulla nasuta is a lithe green tree snake found in India (excluding the northwest; Maharashtra (Nasrapur, Mahabaleshwar, Koyna), Karnataka (Castle Rock), Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The green vine snake is periodical and mildly venomous. They are slow going, relying on masking as a vine in foliage. The snake enlarges its body when agitated to show a black and white shell marking. In addition, they may open their mouth in threat display and direct their head in the direction of the sensed threat.

Distribution: All over India except Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and North-East. Status: Common in its Distribution parts, uncommon on moving towards Western parts. General Characteristics: Length- Adults measure 4ft approx but can grow upto 6.5ft. Dorsal body; Body is slender, very thin and long with smooth scales. Dorsal colour is faint or dark green (appears blue), yellowish green or yellow, pink and brown (in variety Isabellinus). Appears uniform coloured but on provocation inter-scalar colour of black and white appears which may appear like narrow cross bars in a zigzag manner up to half of fore body. Sometimes white or yellow line in first dorsal row runs along the side dorsal from neck to tail. Ventral body; Belly colour is shiny light green, yellow; sometime gray, red or pink. Belly scales are narrow and not good for creeping on ground but gives good grip in an arboreal surrounding.

Head- Head extremely pointed and looks like a sharp arrow or the beak of a bird; clearly broader than neck. Rostral scales are very long and weak. Large eyes are brown coloured with a black coloured horizontal pupil. Tongue is coloured whitish. Tail- Like other arboreal snake this snake also has a very long and thin tail which ends with a pointed tip. Variety Isabellinus- In this form of Green Vine whole dorsal body colour is brown with blackish dots in head scales, also belly colour dark brown most of the times. Such morph has been recorded from South India, Maharastra, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc. Key characters for identification Very long and thin body with a very pointed head with green range colour on the whole body.

This species can be easily identified by its horizontal pupil which is speciality of this genus. Look alike- Looks like Bamboo Pit Viper, Green Keel back and other Vine Snakes.

ScalationHead- 8 Supralabials; 5th touches eyes; 1 Preocular; 2 Pre Sub-ocular; No Loreal; Prefrontal touches Supralabials; 2 Postocular; Temporals usually 1+2 or 1+3. Dorsal- Scales smooth with 15/15 in front body while 13 on posterior side. Ventral- 166-207; Anal divided. Behaviour: Common Vine is diurnal in activity. It is exclusively arboreal and spends its most of its life in trees and vegetation; rarely comes on ground. Lives in trees, dense vegetation and prefers greenery to get best camouflage. It feeds on rodents, lizards, frogs, small birds and other snakes including small sized venomous snakes also. It can stay in same position for few hours. Behaviour is usually calm and slow, on threatening enlarges its fore body, opens the mouth and shows its fascinating gorgeous pink coloured oral cavity to threaten its enemy and confuse it. Reproduction: Mating period starts from starting of summer to the end of monsoon. Female directly gives birth to more than 20 young at a height; she simply drops them in plant tree branches where they go to safer places. Rescue Situations: Green Vine is one of the many green coloured snakes who rarely enter the human house, since they do not get any greenery for safety. It prefers to live at heights. Sometimes it will climb on the roof of the house but barely tries to enter. In such situation, rescuers must not bag the snake since its rostral scale (snout) of this species is very weak and is always in the danger of hurting in the process of bagging. The snake should be released as soon as possible in the same area where there is a proper vegetation and greenery.

Green Keelback (Marcopisthodon plumbicolour) Green Grass Snake

Distribution: The species is distributed almost all over India up to Bengal in the East. It is not found on the Eastern Coast. The species may not be present in North India. General Characteristics: Length- Adults measure approx. 6cm, but can grow up to 94cm. Dorsal body- Body shape stout with highly keeled green coloured scales. Sometime Yellow mixed colour exists on side dorsal surface. Juveniles have irregular black bands on the whole body and they become faint or totally absent in adults. In some places, both the adults and the juveniles may have inter-scalar sky-blue or milky white colour. One or Two A shape markings of Black colour present on neck clearly in juveniles between them clear yellow colour exists. They have sharp rear fangs for a better grip on their prey and can be observed during their natural hunt. Ventral body- Belly entirely glossy white or greyish in colour, with the edges greenish in colour. Sub-caudal scales paired in a zigzag manner, their colour is similar to ventral scales but sometimes can be darker or more yellowish. Head- Head rounded with smooth shiny scales. Head is slightly broader than the neck. Blackish colour patches are present in an irregular or

asymmetrical manner. Eyes have rounded pupil. Tongue colour shiny black on the front and pinkish red on posterior side.

Tail- The tail also has highly keeled scales. Normal as typical range with pointed tip. Tail colour almost same like rest of the dorsal body. Key Characters for Identification:

Body green in colour with Black patches or bands. Juveniles have a yellow neck. Neck has yellow and black coloured A shaped markings.

Look alike- Green Pit Vipers, Chequered Keel back from Central Indian morphology. When threatened, it tends to show a False Hood and thus sometimes referred to as a Green Coloured Cobra. Behaviour: Green Keel back is a nocturnal and crepuscular species. It is active mostly at the time of dusk and dawn. It remains hidden in dark and silent places during day time. Lives in grass, gardens, bushes, etc and they prefer dark and moist surrounding. They feed mostly on toads, and sometimes frogs and lizards. Its a silent species in handling and rarely bites. On provocation they flatten their neck in Cobra Style, at some height above the ground and show their full alertness.

Reproduction - Mating is during summer till the start of November. The female lays about 6 to 14 eggs in a clutch preferably in dry places. The hatchlings come out of the eggs during August to March.

Rescue Situations: Green Keel back is one of the 3 common Green colour snakes (others are Green Vine and Bamboo Pit Viper) of India. It is totally harmless & non venomous small species and rarely comes in contact with humans as it like to live in grass and gardens and not inside human houses. Their release in new places is strictly opposed by experts. We should always release this snake in 50-100mtr range from the rescue site.