Today I had a great sighting of a Vine Snake at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve. This small specimen was quite relaxed and made for an excellent photo model :-).
Pictures 1/2/3 – taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV and a 28-300mm lens
Pictures 4/5 – taken with an iPhone 7Plus
I usually do not like to anthropomorphize animals but this Southern Vine Snake gave the appearance of being “unhappy”. Close to shedding its skin it was moving slowly through a tree as we spotted the snake. When I got a bit closer to take some pictures it obviously felt a bit threatened (for a short while). It inflated its neck to display the bright skin between the scales to impress its opponent. It work for me :-). This slender snake has a very bright orange tongue with a black tip.
Vine Snakes are rather shy and usually very relaxed. As with the Boomslang the chance of getting bitten is quite low. Its venom is highly haemotoxic and if a bite is not treated quickly it can be fatal. There is no anti-venom available.
It was the first time I was able to get images of this shy neighbor. What a great day!
PS: The eyes of this Vine Snake look “clouded” as it was close to skin shedding time.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 