Do check the website for my article and pictures on my recent trip to
see Tigers in Central India
www.rahulalvares.com (creepy blog)
The Checkered keelback
Non-venomous
Average length: 3-4 feet
The Checkered keelback is definitely the most aggressive snake I’ve
known. I hold scars from bites of this snake I suffered over twelve
years ago!
Newly caught Checkered keelbacks are so aggressive they will lunge and
bite into the air even before the hapless snake rescuer is standing
within striking range! When annoyed or frightened most will flatten
their fore body and raise it into the air creating a shoddy version of
the cobra’s hood (which is why many are mistaken for cobras). Chasing
away an antagonist the snake ‘sidewinds’ like the desert sidewinders and
may sometimes leap clear off the ground in its efforts to bite.
The bite, though relatively painful, is totally harmless. Sometimes
though the teeth of the snake remain lodged in the wound: I remember
scratching a Checkered Keelback bite that I had received while training
at the Pune Snake Park and finding a tiny white tooth twenty two days
after the snake had bitten me!
This robust snake has relatively large eyes and is easily identified by
its five rows of black spots which form a ‘checkered’ appearance all
over the body. Also conspicuous are two black streaks on its face, one
below and the other behind the eye. Most Checkered keelbacks are
olivaceous or yellowish, though a few are even pinkish in color.
Checkered keelbacks are extremely good swimmers and spend much of their
time in or close to water. They can hold their breath for at least ten
to fifteen minutes underwater: which is why if I’m ever called to pull
out one from a well I give up as soon as the snake has dived underwater!
(Even when the snake does come up for a breath it needs only a few
seconds to ‘recharge’ with fresh air before it can dive back underwater.)
They are also expert at catching fish. I’ve seen one at a five star
resort even display a tad bit intelligence: when a tourist from the
resort threw bread for the fish in the resort’s lagoon, the snake would
creep out of the thick foliage along the lagoon banks and swim towards
the congregated fish. Then, as the fish were preoccupied thrashing for
the bread, the sprightly reptile would pounce on one of them and much to
the surprise of the tourists, swim back into the foliage with the live
fish in its mouth!
Checkered keelbacks are prolific breeders and it has often happened that
even if I’ve not managed to capture the adult one inside someone’s well,
I’ve managed to save a clutch of eggs at least! Caring for the eggs is
easy: they only need to be sprayed with water every alternate day. The
babies pop out two months later.
Though Checkered keelbacks are fairly common throughout the year, they
are most active in the monsoons. Many get killed by cars when crossing
the roads during the heavy rains.
Pics and text: Rahul Alvares
http://rahulalvares.com
