Clouded Sibon, La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.
These are relaxed snakes and are willing to go about their business while being photographed. The scientific name is Sibon nebulatus. I see them frequently at the station. They seem to be especially active at the end of the rainy season. In December 2022, I found five babies on a single bush!
A beautiful hammerhead worm. These are a few inches long and have the ability to stretch and contract their bodies. A herpetologist pointed out that this little worm may well be a snake mimic.
Eyelash Viper, green morph, Costa Rica
Eyelash vipers (Bothriechis schlegelii) come in at least three flavors, and this is the greenish one. It had wedged itself into a pile of palm leaves.
I believe this is a very young Oxybelis aeneus -- a vine snake that is most typically seen higher up in trees. This youngster was a couple of feet from the ground. He was extremely calm and let me get a portrait. He was at least a meter long, but the neck behind his head was about the width of a pencil.
Another lovely snail. Look at that goofy face!
Malaysian/Siamese pit viper, Malaysia
It's always a bonus when you find cool subjects just outside your accommodations! The scientific name is Trimeresurus fucatus.
You go to Singapore to eat, right?!
I found this beauty on a bridge railing at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. I suspect she is Sibon lamari. The small sibon species often move slowly and seem unafraid of me. This allows time to get a nice angle.
I think this is Ninia sebae. Very pretty, 14" or so. I was only able to get a helicopter shot since he was on the move.
Worm Snake suspected, Virginia
My best guess is that this is a juvenile Carphophis amoenus. I found her just off of Skyline Drive at about in Virginia at about 2400'
Blunt headed tree snake, Costa Rica
Blunt-headed tree snakes (Imantodes cenchoa) ooze slowly about in low brush and small trees. They are one of my favorite snakes and pay little attention to me. They can be a meter in length, but their bodies are narrower than my pinky finger.
Unidentified arboreal snake, Malaysia
There are a lot of arboreal snakes in the tropics. I assume this is because there are many prey options in the tree canopy, in epiphytes, under bark, and so on.
These worms are predatory and glide about the forest floor until they run over a prey species.
Unidentified snake, Costa Rica
Some sort of harmless bothrops wannabe. It blends in nicely with the leaf litter.
Unidentified snake, Costa Rica
Not sure of ID on this one, but I found two of them oozing about in trees overhanging a swampy area. Frogs were depositing eggs in large numbers on nearby leaves, and I suspect the snakes were feeding on the eggs.
Blunt headed tree snake looking cute!
Imantodes cenchoa, Costa Rica. Yet another shot of my favorite snake. I think this one may have been getting ready to shed his skin. There seemed to be a few flaky-looking areas behind his eye, and his color was a bit lighter than is typical.
This is the only specimen I've found and I've had no luck trying to ID him. At La Selva Biological Station.
There can be significant color differences between individuals in snakes, frogs, and insects. This relaxed model gave me a fun overhead shot as it oozed from leaf to leaf.
Happy Halloween! This character was oozing about in the moss covering the side of a tree so I grabbed this close-up of his lovely color scheme. If it's a Halloween snake, the genus is Pliocercus. Fairly common at La Selva Bio Station.
I come across snakes when I'm looking for insects and frogs. I don't usually bother with species that are considered dangerous. The eyelash vipers on this page might seem like an exception. But these are tiny snakes and are also pretty relaxed. A lot of photographers like to pick snakes up or hook them and pose them. The snake will then typically coil up and go into a defensive posture. I'm not sure why such a pose is desirable, and I prefer to take what I can get. In this case, it was a portrait. This may be a Dendrelaphis species.
Eyelash Viper, yellow morph, Costa Rica
Eyelash vipers (Bothriechis schlegelii) are small ambush hunters. They may sit in the same location (often on a large palm leaf) as the one in the photo for several days, waiting for frogs, lizards, and small birds. IIRC, this one was about 14" long.
Even a humble snail can be fun to photograph!
Haemadipsa picta suspected. Leeches are pretty common in wet areas in SE Asian forests. They are primarily a nuisance because the tiny and painless puncture they make continues to bleed for a day or so. I found that gaffer tape works well to seal leech wounds. You read it here first...
White headed snake, Costa Rica.
This snake (Enuliophis sclateri), is small, perhaps 18cm and they seem to be active in the late rainy season. The spider was a bonus. The poor thing may also be known as the "sock-headed snake". Very laid back.
Corallus annulatus, Costa Rica.
This little boa was a patient model. I see tree boas occasionally at La Selva Bio Station, but they are usually out of the reach of my macro gear. This one was at head height and calm enough to allow me to photograph close in.
Leather leaf slug, Costa Rica.
I've never seen a slug do this before. I believe the genus is Laevicaulis.
Planerian, species unknown. These guys are fun to watch. They have the ability to become long and very slender or short and squat and compressed. They ooze about slowly on leaves and twigs, and much prefer rainy days.
Planarian.