Cute Menace To Society - Tumblr Posts

Day 23 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Hey, I’m back! And today’s creature is beyond special:

This is Balkan whipsnake (Dolichophis caspius). This is a fully grown adult. These colubrids are big, some grow over 2 meters in length. They have that wonderful copper colored head, shiny grey body and bright yellow belly. But they also have Black Air Force energy.

I’ve worked with these snakes a lot during my herpetology courses and oh my god, they are mean! They are called “whipsnakes” because they can actually hit you with their tail and because their scales are so tough, it hurts like a bitch. They love to bite. And they don’t have the “bite pose”. Most snakes coil up to prepare themselves to strike, but these do not. They are incredibly unpredictable and they can fucking jump. And on top of that, they have so much energy. Most snakes tire out in a very short period of time, but these do not. I don’t know how do they do it, but they can keep striking, swiggling and jumping for over an hour. And they do it while in the bag where we put snakes to calm down as well. They are unreal. A true menace to society.

But they eat rodents and venomous snakes so you want to have them around. And they are cute. Even though they bit me, I still love them. Here’s a cute juvenile as a bonus:

Juveniles have small black spots all over their body and are equally as crazy as the adults. That’s why we’re holding this one by her head. She bit three people.