This profile is pending review by a qualified herpetologist. Never rely on it to decide whether a snake is safe to approach.
Overview
A large, fast, non-venomous snake that hunts rats around homes and paddy fields. When cornered it may raise its front body and inflate its throat, which leads people to mistake it for a cobra.
How to recognise it
- 1Long olive-brown to yellowish body; never spreads a hood
- 2Black-edged scales towards the tail form a net-like pattern
- 3Large eyes with round pupils and dark bars on the lip scales
Where it lives
Almost everywhere in the lowlands: paddy fields, villages, home gardens, scrub and forest edges.
