#burrowing snake

West Coast Banded Snake aka Coastal Burrowing Snake (Simoselaps littoralis), family Elapidae, Kalbarri, WA, Australia

Mildly venomous.

Apostolepis kikoi • A New Species of Burrowing Snake (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from the State of Mato Grosso, Central-West Region of Brazil

During a faunal rescue conducted at a hydroelectric power station constructed in a Cerrado #savanna area in the state of Mato Grosso, a sample of five small stripe-patterned individuals of snakes of the genus Apostolepis Cope, 1862 document the existence of an undescribed species, which is named herein. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of scale counts, number of maxillary teeth and color pattern...

Leonard's Pipe Snake or Leonard's Burrowing Snake (Anomochilus leonardi), family Anomochilidae, Lowland forest of Malaysia

Kerala Burrowing Snake (Plectrurus aureus), family Uropeltidae, endemic to the Western Ghats of India

Burrowing Snake (Phalotris shawnella), family Colubridae, endemic to Paraguay

Newly described in 2022.

photograph via:

Burrowing Snake (Phalotris nigrilatus), family Colubridae, endemic to Paraguay

ENDANDERED.

Black-Striped Burrowing Snake as Totem Vermicella calonotus (Neelaps calonotus)

Found in the South-West of Western Australia. 

Original art. Pencil. Ink. Watercolour pencil. Metallic acrylic. Illustration board. Etsy.

‘So it’s true, I have been described as one of the most attractive snakes in the whole of Australia, but I think most haven’t heard of me, and I like it that way. I gleam bright to warn others to stay back, because I don’t like to live a harsh life. The dark is quiet and good, but even better are the refuges beneath rocks and tree-stumps, in the sandy soil. I like nothing more than to be cosied up in the belly of the desert, my own belly full and my eggs growing strong. I’ll bite if you keep pushing at me, but in truth I just wish to live my own truth in my own way. This land around me, Banksias and soil and tasty worm lizards, it keeps me bright and beautiful and connected to night secrets. I’m surprised when anyone wants to slither with me for a time, but if you’re quiet and respectful, I’ll take you into the earth and show you what it is to be a nocturnal snake that enjoys the damp soils after rain. We can listen to the Banksia leaves whisper to each other, and learn the deeper secrets of a bushland as oft overlooked as I am.’

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Teensy by Mark Scherz on Flickr.