Yeah, no argument there. But then, I probably couldn’t distinguish a Cane toad from Kermit. 
Made a last second decision to make a solo run to Baling, against the advice of some fellow Taiwanese herpers who’d been there the previous night and had only seen two common snakes all evening (L. rufozanatum and L. ruhstrati). That turned out to be a GREAT decision, as I hadn’t even crossed the Baling Bridge when I ran into a lovely and feisty Big-Eyed Ratsnake (Ptyas dhumnades). This is the fastest snake in Taiwan, and almost impossible to corral, but I lucked out and came across him while he was right in the middle of the road. I could have turned around right then and there and called it a successful herping trip, but I’m glad I didn’t as in the next few hours I would come across nine more snakes including another Red Bamboo Ratsnake (ordinarily rare, but I’ve come quite a few this spring), a beautiful King Ratsnake and the piece de resistance: a very rare, and stunningly beautiful Stejnegar’s Mountain Keelback, along with some of the more usual suspects. Here are some photos from the evening (all smartphone shots, which really don’t do justice to these snakes):
Hey, I wanted to write sooner but didn’t find the time / energy…
The thing is that last Saturday we were on our way to Miaoli, riding number 3, and I was hoping to see a snake on the road when… yes, at some bridge I saw an ENORMEOUS snake, like 1.5 to 2 meters long, brownish (my gf says greenish), with some sort of pattern (romboid?) on the shoulder. As I say the animal was long, the body thickness was kinda even, the head would be like a cobra’s, meaning that it wasn’t really differenciated from the body, but for some reason I decided it wasn’t a cobra (perhaps because of the pattern and that when the assholes on scooter passed by it, no hood appeared).
I would love to know which animal it was. I stopped the bike, but by the time I was going to get off the bike, the scooters scared the animal and this one sneaked out of the road through one of the holes in the wall.
Looking at your website, I think that this one is kinda similar to what I saw: snakesoftaiwan.com/Ptyas%20m … mucosa.htm , although I’m not totally sure… (that romboid? pattern?). The first one that appears on your last post also looks pretty close, and I see they’re the same family.
the tip of the head was a bit more rounded, and I didn’t notice any triangle shape anything on the head…
BTW… let’s go herping any time, really
Would totally love to go, but my wife would kill me, which is ironic, because she’s afraid a snake could kill me… :no-no:
[quote=“jesus80”]Hey, I wanted to write sooner but didn’t find the time / energy…
The thing is that last Saturday we were on our way to Miaoli, riding number 3, and I was hoping to see a snake on the road when… yes, at some bridge I saw an ENORMEOUS snake, like 1.5 to 2 meters long, brownish (my gf says greenish), with some sort of pattern (romboid?) on the shoulder. As I say the animal was long, the body thickness was kinda even, the head would be like a cobra’s, meaning that it wasn’t really differenciated from the body, but for some reason I decided it wasn’t a cobra (perhaps because of the pattern and that when the assholes on scooter passed by it, no hood appeared).
I would love to know which animal it was. I stopped the bike, but by the time I was going to get off the bike, the scooters scared the animal and this one sneaked out of the road through one of the holes in the wall.
Looking at your website, I think that this one is kinda similar to what I saw: snakesoftaiwan.com/Ptyas%20m … mucosa.htm , although I’m not totally sure… (that romboid? pattern?). The first one that appears on your last post also looks pretty close, and I see they’re the same family.
the tip of the head was a bit more rounded, and I didn’t notice any triangle shape anything on the head…
BTW… let’s go herping any time, really[/quote]
Pity you couldn’t get a photo. No doubt at that size, a ratsnake of some sorts, probably a P. mucosa. What day(s) or nights of the week do you have free?
Would totally love to go, but my wife would kill me, which is ironic, because she’s afraid a snake could kill me… :no-no:[/quote]
The only danger involved is the drive to whereever it is we start looking for snakes. I have some free time tomorrow (Wednesday) night, and I might go looking for snakes in San Zhi…if anyone’s interested, this would be a great opportunity to come out and see what it’s like.
[quote=“onionsack”]
Pity you couldn’t get a photo. No doubt at that size, a ratsnake of some sorts, probably a P. mucosa. What day(s) or nights of the week do you have free?[/quote]
Well, any day is as good or bad 
I guess that Friday is better since i don’t work on Sat, but it’s being a while without going for a ride during the week… from what time to what time do you use to go to look for snakes?
[quote=“jesus80”][quote=“onionsack”]
Pity you couldn’t get a photo. No doubt at that size, a ratsnake of some sorts, probably a P. mucosa. What day(s) or nights of the week do you have free?[/quote]
Well, any day is as good or bad
I guess that Friday is better since I don’t work on Sat, but it’s being a while without going for a ride during the week… from what time to what time do you use to go to look for snakes?[/quote]
Well, tomorrow night, if we go to Baling, we’ll leave Taoyuan at about 4pm, get there 6pm, eat dinner and start herping between 6:30 and 7:00, herp til midnight and then come back to Taoyuan. If we go to San Zhi, I’d take my car, and probably the same timetable: meet at the parking lot behind this 7-11: goo.gl/maps/K6QDL (near the 無極天元宮賞櫻 temple) and then hit the road near the big columbarium until 11 or 12 midnight.
[quote=“onionsack”]
Well, tomorrow night, if we go to Baling, we’ll leave Taoyuan at about 4pm, get there 6pm, eat dinner and start herping between 6:30 and 7:00, herp til midnight and then come back to Taoyuan. If we go to San Zhi, I’d take my car, and probably the same timetable: meet at the parking lot behind this 7-11: goo.gl/maps/K6QDL (near the 無極天元宮賞櫻 temple) and then hit the road near the big columbarium until 11 or 12 midnight.[/quote]
If tomorrow is today (Wednesday), then that’s too soon! :S today I ride the engineless motorcycle
EDIT: how about to do this on Thursday or Friday? I could more or less be there at 7:00 / 7:10 PM (I work until 6:30)
[quote=“jesus80”][quote=“onionsack”]
Well, tomorrow night, if we go to Baling, we’ll leave Taoyuan at about 4pm, get there 6pm, eat dinner and start herping between 6:30 and 7:00, herp til midnight and then come back to Taoyuan. If we go to San Zhi, I’d take my car, and probably the same timetable: meet at the parking lot behind this 7-11: goo.gl/maps/K6QDL (near the 無極天元宮賞櫻 temple) and then hit the road near the big columbarium until 11 or 12 midnight.[/quote]
If tomorrow is today (Wednesday), then that’s too soon! :S today I ride the engineless motorcycle
EDIT: how about to do this on Thursday or Friday? I could more or less be there at 7:00 / 7:10 PM (I work until 6:30)[/quote]
Unfortunately, I work very late at night every day of the week except Wed, Sun, Mon…so those are really the only days I can make it outside of Taoyuan for herping. No worries, the herping season has only just begun, plenty of opportunities to get out. 
Oh… may be Monday then?
Maybe you can come to visit in Malaysia. Neighbors are reporting an increase in cobras. These are the big guys who stand up, face you in the eye, and spit venom. Looking forward to a far-away encounter. 
Spitting cobras? Damn…
ISIS terrorists and spitting cobras, you got the worst of both worlds, M man. 
Does it make sense to go herping very late? I mean, like 11 /12 /1 AM? I’m thinking of heading Linkou area after dinner…
Any of you snake fanatics can identify a snake from a description?
I saw this little guy resting in my lemongrass the other day while I was giving everything a trim. He was lucky to escape the shears. About 18 inches long, bright green all over, lighter on the belly and darker at the head. No other distinguishing features. I was looking for the characteristic white stripe of Trimeresurus stejnegeri, but definitely not there. Any ideas? Venomous? I assume he’s still around somewhere.
Sorry, I couldn’t take a photo: my phone decided at that moment to run out of battery.
Cool, but the writers should be aware that the species name should properly be Pareas atayal, with a small “a”. Not Pareas Atayal.
And why no pic in the article?
[quote=“finley”]Any of you snake fanatics can identify a snake from a description?
I saw this little guy resting in my lemongrass the other day while I was giving everything a trim. He was lucky to escape the shears. About 18 inches long, bright green all over, lighter on the belly and darker at the head. No other distinguishing features. I was looking for the characteristic white stripe of Trimeresurus stejnegeri, but definitely not there. Any ideas? Venomous? I assume he’s still around somewhere.
Sorry, I couldn’t take a photo: my phone decided at that moment to run out of battery.[/quote]
Maybe?
OK, been a while since I posted, but here are a few of the now 350+ snakes I’ve come across already this year…
