Road Cruising in Thailand

I was in Thailand from Sept 9 - 16, and we decided to cut through Khao Yai National Park, as it was shorter than driving around it to get to our next destination. It started raining very hard shortly after entering the park at 5:30 pm. Thunder and lightning, the works. We saw a couple different kinds of Deer and some birds as the rain was slowing, right before dark. Driving through the park, now without rain, we came across a yearling Reticulated Python in the middle of the road. I have seen many DOR Reticulated and Burmese Pythons, and Rat Snakes in Thailand, as well as many live Rat Snakes crossing the roads. This was the first live Retic. We stopped and took some photos, and moved it off the road as cars were still going by, now and then.

Road Cruising in Thailand ReticulatedPythonPythonReticulatus1

Road Cruising in Thailand ReticulatedPythonPythonReticulatus1

Road Cruising in Thailand ReticulatedPythonPythonReticulatus2

We drove about 10 more minutes and came across a White-lipped Pit Viper sitting on the road. We got it on a stick and took turns taking photos of it, and then put it up in some tree branches next to where we found it, hoping it would not be killed by passing cars. We were lucky to fine these two alive, as there were many cars cruising through the park, in both directions, and most travel at higher than legal speeds, and would probably have killed the snakes.

Road Cruising in Thailand White-lippedPitViperCryptelytropsalbolabris1

Road Cruising in Thailand White-lippedPitViperCryptelytropsalbolabris1

Road Cruising in Thailand White-lippedPitViperCryptelytropsalbolabris2

Road Cruising in Thailand White-lippedPitViperCryptelytropsalbolabris3

realy nice mate a friend of my is there now to herp... did you see any cobra's.

Guest

Nice pictures.

I am far from an expert so please don't think I am trying to be, but is that definitely an albolabris?

Hey Randy,

nice pictures, but the "Albolabris" is actually a Trimeresurus (or whatever the currently used genus name is) macrops.

Best regards

Frank

Guest

That's what I was thinking, it looks like it had some nice blue on it too

Thanks everyone, nope, no Cobras in the wild Jorg. No Frank and Owen, I am not sure about what it is. I'm a Cobra guy, and I have only kept one Atheris for a few months and pair of Bothrechis (sp) for about 1 year. So, I'm sure you both know better than me, what it is.

When we found it, we both thought White-lipped Pit Viper. Yesterday I looked for photos of Trimeresurus online hoping to post about it correctly and not look like an idiot, haha. Too late, haha. Anyway I came across the website below, and the 2nd snake down looks a little more like what we photographed. It states that the macrops also has a red/brown tail, which I didn't see in the photos on the website of the macrops.

http://bangkokherps.wordpress.com/category/snakes/vipers/

Either way, it was a cool find. Not a Cobra, but cool non-the-less.

So, what is your

I would say macrops too - according to Malhotra & Thorpe, these are the same genus like albolabris (Cryptelytrops)
regards
Peter

Nice pics Randy, thanks for sharing.

Thanks all I wasn't aware of the name change to Cryptelytrops, until I came to that website. Can anyone tell me the easily noticeable differences between albolabris and macrops? I will inform my buddy that found it with me as to what it actually is. He is more of a Crotalus guy.

Cannot find that paper at the moment, Randy. There are differences in head scalation, if i remember right.
First of all, in your specimen those large eyes responsible for the species name jumped into my eyes....
regards
Peter

No problem about the paper. I believe your right about the eyes Peter. On the website I posted the link to, the photos of the Cryptelytrops macrops, while poor, show a larger eye, and more similar to what we photographed, than the albolabris.

Nice night. Thailand is pretty high up on my list of places to visit in the coming years.

I think some better places to look for, especially for Cobras might be the rice fields, but I would ask permission before just tromping around someones land. If your there at the right time of year, you will see people in the fields, and you can ask them if they have seen Cobras, and if you can look around if you do not trample the rice. Make sure they know your only wanting photos. They may be scared of the snakes, but they know they keep the rodent population under control which saves them money.

I go to King Cobra Village near Khon Kaen each time I go to Thailand, as it is not far from where my girl lives. We went there last Tuesday, and asked again if anyone could take us out looking for Cobras to photograph. My girl was with us, so being Thai, she can communicate better with them. They will not take you out looking, but a man did offer to take a king from his home, out to a field so we could pretend we found it in the wild, haha. We declined.

I will be going back to Thailand between late Oct. and early Dec when my girl gets her Visa to come to USA, and we plan to go down south near Surat Thani/Phuket area. It will be late in the year for snake hunting, but we will spend more time looking for Cobras.

Sounds like you having much fun Smile

i know i would

Cool findings Randy! Sounds like you had a great time.
Next time a cobra would be nice but you probably will. It won't be the last time you're there.

Cheers, Ro.

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