Description
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INTRODUCTION
- Non Venomous
- Other names : Russell's Kukri, Variegated Kukri
- Has specialized curved teeth shaped like Kukri Knives to slit open eggs.
IDENTIFICATION
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Small snakes with smooth, glossy scales colored reddish-brown on dorsal and belly is white.
- Exhibits multiple patterns from series of long streaks from neck to tail & sometimes bands too.
- Small eyes with round pupils, arrow pattern on head & thick dark collar behind neck.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
- Found throughout peninsular India & most parts of North India too.
- Hide in rock piles, crevices, under wooden logs & loose roots near dense vegetation & rocks.
DIET AND BEHAVIOR
- Mainly eat small lizards, insects & particularly fond of reptile eggs.
- Nocturnal & semi-fossorial species, forage at night, sometimes even day terrestrially.
- When provoked, form loose coils with body & lift forebody off ground. Bites can tear skin due to curved teeth.
Other Kukri Snakes
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While upto 20 species of Oligodon are found in India. Only 7 are found in the peninsula. Apart from the Banded Kukri & Streaked Kukri, the other 5 are mentioned below. All are rare species endemic to the Western Ghats
- Travancore Kukri (Oligodon travancoricus)
- Striped Kukri (Oligodon brevicauda)
- Western Kukri (Oligodon affinis)
- Black spotted Kukri (Oligodon venustus)
- Palani Hills Kukri (Oligodon nikhili)
Fontes e Créditos
- (c) Vinay Gogula, todos os direitos reservados, uploaded by Vinay Gogula
- (c) Vinay Gogula, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA)
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