It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for my blog, not through a lack of content but more of a lack of time. I decided that it was time to sit down and go through some of my pictures and get to writing a fresh post.
Ok so here it goes, a post about a short herping trip I had in Krabi.
I had been planning to meet up with Vern Lovic, a well known snake expert in Thailand and author of ThailandSnakes.com but sadly I just never found the time. I decided it was high time I headed down to Krabi to meet up with Vern and see what herpetofauna we could find.
Although my visit was very short and the weather at times was less than ideal for herping I was able to see a plethora of species I had never seen before and many familiar ones too. All in all it was a pretty successful trip for me, So without further ado here’s what I saw:
Snakes
I came to Krabi with a long list of snakes I wanted to see; a slightly unrealistic expectation I have to admit in hindsight. Despite the short time frame and sometimes less than Ideal conditions I was able to see three species I’d never seen before and a few familiar ones too.
A Dog-toothed Cat Snake (Boiga cynodon) that Vern spotted in a small waterfall he was washing his hands in, he almost touched it before realising it was there.A Beautiful Pit Viper (Trimeresurus venustus) waiting in a drainage ditch in ambush position despite the pouring rain.Ever get the feeling you’re being watched?A slightly dull (pre-shed) very large gravid female Beautiful Pit Viper and the first snake I spotted during my trip.Another new snake species for me, this time it was a Puff-faced Water Snake (Homalopsis buccata) Vern pulled out of a pond for me.A Green Cat Snake (Boiga Cyanea) I grabbed crossing the road and with the help of Vince (a fellow herper) wrestled out of the foliage on the side of the road. Vern was nice enough to hold it for me so I could try and get some photos whilst tying to keep my camera dry in the rain.A young Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) , a common snake but always cool to see.
Geckos
Along with some beautiful snake species I was lucky enough to encounter some of Krabi’s beautiful geckos species three of which (pictured below) where species I’d never seen before.
The first gecko I encountered was this Thai Bow-fingered Gecko (Cyrtodactylus peguensis) patrolling a gully looking for insects.Next was this Four-Striped Bent-Toed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus quadrivirgatus) in a similar position to the Thai Bow-fingered Gecko.The last gecko was this beautiful Lekagul’s bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus lekaguli)
Other Wildlife
I saw quite a few rodents scampering across the road or along tree limbs but this inquisitive little guy was the only one that stayed still enough for me to get a picture.At one point whilst we were looking at the vine snake a huge dragonfly appeared and landed on Vern’s ear. It then took turns flying to and landing on most of the group that were there that night.The dragonfly had brilliant, neon green markings on its body and other-worldly bulbous eyes.I’ve always wanted to get a photo of one of these moths but they never seem to stay still for me. On the first night out herping there was one perched right beside the road.I caught these two ghostly looking moths in the middle of creating the next generation of moths.The only new frog species I saw but what a beauty, (Chalcorana eschatia) sitting near a pond.
A massive thanks to Vern Lovic whose keen eyes, knowledge of the local area and it’s prime herping locations enabled me to see so much more than I ever would have by myself. His website ThailandSnakes.com and his youtube channel Thailand Living were what introduced me to Thailand’s herpetofauna and got me hooked on herping.
Thanks also to Vincent Vega who drove with me to some of the herping locations, kept me from getting lost and was my herping companion along with Vern on most of the nights. You can see some of Vince’s finds from Krabi and elsewhere in Thailand on his youtube channel here Vincen Vega
Oh, that pit viper, what a stunning snake!!! Fantastic photo as well, sounds like a great trip to Krabi, I love that place! Although I mainly remember the food 😉
Incredible photos! The Beautiful Pit Viper is appropriately beautiful, but all the snakes you saw are good to look at. It’s also quite remarkable that a rodent actually stood still long enough for you to photograph them: they always seem so skittish. Probably because almost everything is trying to eat them.
Thank you, I love that they’re named the beautiful pit viper it’s very apt.
It’s always weird to see a rodent stay still like that. Maybe it felt secure as it was out of reach.
I don’t know why people are so scared of snakes. I find they are very beautiful and not so dangerous. Their colours are wonderful. So you have all these animals close to you? I’ts very nice 🙂
I live in Italy, I have a garden where there are little golden snakes, and a Big black water snake. When i see them I’m not scared. I love to see them and they live free in my garden. Some time ago I had a rabbit and maybe a snake bit him and died but I didn’t put any trap to kill snakes because I think it’s a natural think and snakes must to live free. 🙂
Nick's Wild Life 
Oh, that pit viper, what a stunning snake!!! Fantastic photo as well, sounds like a great trip to Krabi, I love that place! Although I mainly remember the food 😉
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Thanks yeh the name definately fits it well.
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Incredible photos! The Beautiful Pit Viper is appropriately beautiful, but all the snakes you saw are good to look at. It’s also quite remarkable that a rodent actually stood still long enough for you to photograph them: they always seem so skittish. Probably because almost everything is trying to eat them.
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Thank you, I love that they’re named the beautiful pit viper it’s very apt.
It’s always weird to see a rodent stay still like that. Maybe it felt secure as it was out of reach.
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I don’t know why people are so scared of snakes. I find they are very beautiful and not so dangerous. Their colours are wonderful. So you have all these animals close to you? I’ts very nice 🙂
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These pictures where from a Thai province quite far from me, but I do often get snakes in my garden where I live.
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I live in Italy, I have a garden where there are little golden snakes, and a Big black water snake. When i see them I’m not scared. I love to see them and they live free in my garden. Some time ago I had a rabbit and maybe a snake bit him and died but I didn’t put any trap to kill snakes because I think it’s a natural think and snakes must to live free. 🙂
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That sounds lovely, I wish more people would live harmoniously with nature.
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