09 December 2009

Ahaetulla


Unlike the Green Pit Viper, this emerald colored snake is an innocent and harmless reptile. This particular species is known as Ahaetulla in local language. In fact I got to know from Wikipedia, that this snake’s genus name also the same.

I captured this one during my recent trip to Sinharaja rain forest. Ahaetulla is found in low wetlands of Sri Lanka.

I missed a better chance of getting a good close up of this forest friend, due to my clumsiness.

To learn more about snakes, visit this excellent website about Sri Lankan Reptiles. The authors have taken a very good effort!

13 comments:

George said...

This is a very vibrant-colored snake. I'm glad to learn that it is harmless.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Beautiful picture of the Ahaetulla, K... I'm afraid of snakes --even the 'good' ones, but I like to see them in photos. ha
Betsy

Janith said...

Oh dear, when you shared that post about the pit viper I thought that the ahaetulla was the same snake! :D I once heard that the ahaetulla gets it's name from the belief that it stikes people's eyes by hanging from tree branches... :)

Amitha Amarasinghe said...

There's a belief in most Sri Lankan villages that Ahatulla is dangerous and it takes out eye balls of humans if encountered in jungle (hence the name "ahatulla"). This is a baseless myth it seems, and as you mentioned Ahatulla is a harmless snake.

sumedha Obeysekera said...

Once I was bitten by an Ehetulla. It gave me just a little pain like a bite of an ant. This one contains a very minor venom which doesn’t harm humans, but it manages to inactivate its small prays like tree lizards & etc.

There is one thing about harmless snakes; even though they are harmless, it is advised to wash the place immediately, if you encounter with a bite, because it can still causes bacterial infections since their teeth can’t be as clean as ours!

Kirigalpoththa said...

George,
Yes it has a vibrant green color. He is a quite sift mover too.

Betsy,
I like to see the harmless ones and used to touch them too :)
But poisonous ones..I am not too keen to meet them during my hikes..

Chavie,
Glad you cleared your doubts :)
Yes lot of people, wrongly identify Pala Polanga and Ahaetulla. I know quite a lot of Ahaetullas are killed thinking they are poisonous.
Me too heard about the eye story, but there are no scientific evidence.

Amitha,
Yes it is a myth and no convincing evidence to prove it. Thanks for enlightening us on how the name 'Ahaetulla' derives. ('Ahae' in local language is eye)
Poisonous or not all creatures have the right to live.

Sumedha,
Thanks for proving 'Ahaetulla' is harmless with your life experience :)
I understand your logic. Usually if you were bitten by a dog, we are asked to get a 'Tetanus' vaccine even if we are sure that the dog has no rabies. So same is appilcable to any 'bite'.

Thanks all for your wonderful comments!!

Sharodindu said...

super slick figure in vaibrating green...such a great beauty...:)

Kirigalpoththa said...

Sharodindu,
Thanks for your comments! :)

Harshi said...

Wow.. that's a striking luminous green. I wonder if this is the same guy that we saw back in our school some years back.

That snake was green too I think and was so skinny but it managed to wrap itself around a small birdie (prolly to crush its bones) and well.. devoured the birdie completely! Think it took about more than 15mts to gulp it down. But seriously.. they sure can eat a lot despite their appearance! lol

Harshi said...

PS: That's a really cool head banner and nice new layout.

sumedha Obeysekera said...

Yep.. you picked the point correctly. Regards.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Harumi,
That is interesting recollection. As per Sri Lankan Reptiles they do eat birds as well. :)
Thanks for your compliments too on the head banner + lay out :D


Sumedha,
Thanks mate :)
Best Regards!

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