So, you want to get to know me?

A Green Pit Viper is in a chatty mood 

“You seem nice, step closer, I won’t hurt you. My venomous bite is usually meant for prey and for those who startle me. That happens a lot to my cousins who live in the tea estates. The tea pluckers turn up at dawn to do their morning work and startle my cousins who’ve just gone to sleep in the bushes. We’re nocturnal by the way, so you can imagine how annoying it is to be woken up with the sun being all bright and hot. I suppose the tea pluckers can’t help it, our camouflage is too good, sso they don’t see us. Look at me, I’m a green snake with black patterns, it's almost impossible to see me. Don’t worry about the tea pluckers, our venom hurts, but it's not fatal… usually.”

Fun Facts

“Trees are the best. Uss Green Pit Vipers just love them. They’re safe zones and they shade us from the sun. That’s why you will find us in all the wet, intermediate and dry zone forests. We only come down from the trees when we’re hungry and we want to grab some food. Lizards, frogs, small mammals, birds… they're all easy prey. We just slide down slowly and grab them, quick as a flash! With our stealth and camouflage, they never see us coming. It’s almost unfair, but I’m not complaining!”

Story of the Photo

The Sinharaja Rain Forest is famed for its birdlife, but it has a fantastic population of reptiles too. Whilst staying at Explorer by Eco Team in Sinharaja, Dilum was out on a walk when he got this great shot of the viper in the trees.