Green Bronzeback Tree snake
The snake in the picture is dead. It was dead when I found it. Probably not long gone though, considering it wasn’t cold and rigid when I felt it. I had found it on my regular afternoon walk along the road from the Forest guest house to my dive centre in Havelock (Andamans). The green snake on the edge of the dull black road was obvious even from a distance. Still I was apparently the first one to notice it. Autos and motorbikes zipped by totally oblivious of the strikingly colored reptile. I was excited. This was a new snake for me. I had never seen anything like it before. I picked it up and began my inspection. The snake was dead no doubt. But why? Surely not of disease or old age. It was more likely that something had run over it. My inspection couldn’t find any damage done to it though. This was surprising as this was a very delicate looking snake. Even a bicycle tyre going over such a frail creature would snap its spine as easily as a heavy foot would crush a small dry twig. And if that did indeed happen then there should be a very conspicious and sizeable imprint somewhere along its spine. But there was none. I gave up my post mortem and decided to get a few pictures of it at least. It would help with the identification of the snake. I realized that if I ignored the striking green colour of the snake it was a carbon copy of the common bronzeback I find in Goa. The green colour made the snake look very unusual though (picture a human being normal in every way except for his skin which is a bright blue and you’ll understand what I mean!). Meanwhile a young couple passing by on a scooter had noticed the snake in my hands. They stopped the bike a resonable distance away and cautiously approached me. I had by now placed the snake on a green bush at the side of the road and was busy snapping away with my camera. ‘That’s a snake isnt’ it…what? Is it alive?’ babbled the woman who seemed to be the more braver of the two. ‘Its dead’ I answered flatly. ‘I found it on the road like this.’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Oh yes’ I replied wagging the snake’s head to convince her. ‘But then why are you putting it on the tree?’ she asked suspiciously ‘Well this is a fast moving tree snake that rarely stays still on the ground. No one will believe that the snake was alive if I have a picture of it coiled at the side of the road.’ I explained ‘Infact’, I continued ‘could you please hold this branch for me while I take some pictures? The wind shakes the branch and this snake keeps slipping off.’ The woman shot a glance at her partner still not convinced that the snake was dead or that I was not a mental patient! Eventually she obliged and apart from a few sporadic shrieks on her part when the snake suddenly slipped off, the shoot when quite well. By the time I was done with the snake the woman had mustered enough courage to hold it. ‘What do I do with it?’ she shouted at me as I was walking away. ‘well…put it on the tree.’ I shouted without looking back and breaking into a jog. I was already late for my diving class. Common facts collected from *Whitaker’s* Snakes of India 1. Diurnal, Arboreal 2. Feeds on frogs, garden lizards, geckos, and small birds. 3. If cornered, expands forebody to show light blue interscale skin. 4. Found in the Northeast from West Bengal to Arunachal pradesh and the Andaman Islands. Also Myanmar, Thailand.
