Finally, caught up with a Mangrove Snake

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I dashed down to the site and promptly located the elusive Mangrove Snake. What made this encounter special was the snake was at eye level, which made photographing it a joy for me.

The Mangrove Snake or Gold-ringed Cat Snake is one of the largest in the species. It is a venomous, and rear-fanged which means that the fangs on these snakes don't inject venom, they channel it. By day it lies motionless on overhanging branches, but at night becomes active coming to the ground and feeding on other vertebrates including rodents, small birds and their eggs, frogs, bats and sometimes other snakes.

This fella was curled up having its siesta when I came upon it. It also gave me the opportunity of a life time. I set-up my equipment and went about documenting this snake from various angles using a tripod. All the time being very slow in my movements so as not to spook the snake.

Should you encounter a snake in the wild stop, turn and walk away from the snake. Remember that you are not prey to the snake. They will not waste their precious venom on you unless you provoke them. In most instances of man vs snake, the snake loses its life.