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Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 2:24 am
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
A young Chrysopelea paradisi, one of the storied flying snakes of Asia. This one didn't fly for me, but here's how they do it.

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Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 4:29 am
by Dr. Dark
WOW! What a spectacularly beautiful snake! My son and I just watched a show on Nat Geo last night about these guys called "Snakes That Fly". It was a well-done show and extremely interesting what they found out about the mechanics of their "flight".

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 5:11 am
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Well, this is one of those point-and-shoot snakes that practically photograph themselves. There's little you can do wrong with such a subject :-)

Is that show on YouTube?

Thanks!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 5:21 am
by Ruxs
Simply magical. Probably the worlds prettiest snake and you should be honoured to make it's acquaintance :)
Great photo's and nice post

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 5:34 am
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Probably the worlds prettiest snake
Have you met Gonyophis margaritatus. Well, neither have I, and that's a fate many nature photographers share down here. It's the herper's Holy Grail, right up there with Lanthanotus and Ophiophagus...
you should be honoured to make it's acquaintance
Au contraire: it was about fricking time I ran into one of those guys - they're common garden snakes. In fact, this specimen was found in a neighbor's driveway this morning....can't wait to meet a fully grown adult!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 6:51 am
by chrish
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Au contraire: it was about fricking time I ran into one of those guys - they're common garden snakes. In fact, this specimen was found in a neighbor's driveway this morning....can't wait to meet a fully grown adult!
I actually had wondered why we hadn't been graced with a Chrysopelea dispatch yet. They were certainly common a bit south of you when I was there.

Looks like you weren't the first one to "find" that snake either based on the scarring on its side. :shock:

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 7:05 am
by Antonsrkn
Great find, really stunning snake!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 7:43 am
by Zach_Lim
What a gorgeous find, Hans!

Find more, please!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 10:15 am
by intermedius
Favorite snake in the Colubridae! :thumb: . Love it Hans

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 7th, 2012, 8:40 pm
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Thanks for all the positive comments! Next up - a six-foot Lycodon albofuscus, which serves as a nice counterpart to the visual opulence of this specimen here :-)

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 7th, 2012, 9:16 pm
by MaartenSFS
Amazing specimen, Hans! Sorry that I haven't posted or commented much these months, but a newborn will do that! I am still lurking on here, though, but couldn't pass up this beauty!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 7th, 2012, 9:36 pm
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Hey, welcome back in the open, Maarten! I'd been wondering where you'd been all that time...

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 7th, 2012, 10:13 pm
by Ruxs
Next time you do a post like this or the 'Eight Snakes...' one from before, you should elaborate on how and where you found/caught them. I really like that sort of thing, especially in your writing style :)

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 7th, 2012, 10:40 pm
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Ruxs wrote:Next time you do a post like this or the 'Eight Snakes...' one from before, you should elaborate on how and where you found/caught them. I really like that sort of thing, especially in your writing style :)
Thanks for the compliment! Can't write a full report all the time, though...most of the snakes are road-cruised anyway, and you don't want to read the same story eight times over ("a sinewy serpent, slithering shadily in the shadowy shine, appeared in our headlights. After managing to heave my bulk out of the car without major bruises, and not even forgetting to pull the handbrake - forgoing a fiery fate for the fine four-wheel fehicle - I arrived snakeside just when it was about to disappear in the roadside grass. Gratuitous violence on behalf of the animal ensues when I try to bag it, yadayadayada etc. ad nauseam.") Few are the instances that are truly worth documenting on pen and paper :-)

Not to mention the fact that many animals are much more beautiful than my writing can ever be, so why sully the experience? :-)

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 8th, 2012, 1:23 am
by MaartenSFS
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Hey, welcome back in the open, Maarten! I'd been wondering where you'd been all that time...
Thanks for flipping me (as I had been under cover)! By the way, did you try to get it to "fly"?

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 8th, 2012, 2:13 am
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
No, it just looks so delicate. With Draco sp., I have no qualms about tossing them in the air and watching them gracefully descend, but with this one, I don't know...

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 8th, 2012, 4:30 am
by MaartenSFS
Well, I thought naturally, but who am I to stop you from tossing animals into the air to test a theory?! :P :twisted:

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 8th, 2012, 5:19 am
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
lol

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 12th, 2012, 11:17 am
by Warren
:thumb:

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 14th, 2012, 1:11 pm
by kyle loucks
That post hurt my eyes. :crazyeyes:

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 19th, 2012, 12:32 am
by snakemastermyke
:thumb:

SO INCREDIBLE, one of my favorite Asian herps!!!! Great photos!!!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 19th, 2012, 6:39 pm
by DavidG
Nice Hans, this is one of the nicer colour variations of paradisi! I usually encounter the green-black patterned one, although recently I found one with a beautiful golden head (still paradise tree snake - not golden tree snake). Goodluck on your herping adventures. May the king cobras be with you!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 19th, 2012, 9:39 pm
by moloch
Absolutely spectacular, Hans! What a great find and set of photos.

Regards,
David

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 19th, 2012, 9:53 pm
by Hans Breuer (twoton)
Thank you very much, all!

Re: Borneo Dispatches #57: Paradise Flying Snake

Posted: November 21st, 2012, 7:00 pm
by Robyn@TRR
Such a beautiful snake. Incredible. Thanks for the awesome pics!