Large-scaled Shieldtail ‘Hey look it’s a snake eating another snake!’ exclaimed Glen a client of mine. It was about eight in the morning and Glen was sitting on one side of a veranda wall sipping his coffee while his wife tried to coax his two children to finish their breakfast. The kids immediately dashed off to look over the wall and started squealing with excitement.
I however gave the comment the benefit of doubt and remained reclined in my chair. This obviously could not be true. Granted we were at Amboli (an excellent spot to find snakes) , but we were in the veranda outside our room and this was broad daylight. It would be difficult to find a snake here let alone a snake eating another snake. But the kids kept shouting so I got out of my chair and reluctantly walked the five steps to peer over the wall. The sight that met my eyes slapped me wide awake like a bucket of ice cold water emptied over someone fast asleep. In an instant I had my camera ready and I dashed around to the otherside of the wall to start snapping pictures. Glen had been wrong just as I’d guessed. This was not a snake eating another snake but infact something even more exciting. It was a shieldtail gobbling up an earthworm! The small yellow and black snake seemed totally oblivious of me and my flashing camera only two feet away. Shieldtails mostly remain hidden in loose soil or leaf litter and as a consquence probably have lousy vision. It was little wonder that the snake remained engrossed in swallowing the earthworm. The large worm which was probably more than half the length of the shieldtail was engulfed quickly. With the worm gone the shield tail immediately started routing around for a hole to crawl into. So long as the snake was feeding I had restrained myself from handling it. But now that it was done I gently picked it up and brought it out into the sunlight. The little snake tried to wriggle free but it seemed more bothered by the sunlight than by me handling it. Holding the wriggling reptile in one hand and snapping away with my camera using the other I tried to get a few closeups of the snake’s face and tail. But the snake’s non-cooperation coupled with a totally unsuitable camera lens rendered all the closeup photographs useless. After a few minutes I gave up. I let the children touch it and then released it into some moist leaf litter. I looked at Glen and shook my head with mild embarrasement. It was not the first time I’d been reminded of the fact that nature doesn’t differentiate between the expert and the rank beginner when it comes to revealing its most interesting and intimate secrets. Interesting facts about the Large-scaled Shieldtail (collected from Whitaker and Captain’s *Snakes of India*) 1.Head narrower than neck. Tail very short, appears to be cut at a slant. 2.Eats mainly earthworms. 3. Is in turn eaten by other snakes and wild boar. 4. Found in the Western Ghats. Most widely distributed in Maharashtra.
