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….actually, my first photographic encounter with a hot ever. The ones I met since I bought my DSLR last March were either DOR, or I didn’t have my camera with me.

But during my walk through the woods tonight, I finally met a very nice and beautiful venomous snake I could photograph – and my absolute favorite species among the 53 on the island. Not only was this the first time I’ve seen a live Taiwan Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stenjnegeri), but it was also a juvie (about six inches), and thus the perfect training partner for photographing any hots I hopefully will meet later in life: As long as I kept a six-inch distance, I didn’t have to worry about how to explain to the nice 911 lady how to get the ambulance to that remote spot in the boonies where the encounter took place . Also, it was a pretty chilly night (ca. 57 degrees F), so the viper was too sluggish to run off, but not too inert to change positions all the time. In short, the perfect model!












BTW, see that little brown, scaly tail on the upper right in the first photo? I discovered it only after I viewed the pix at home. Wonder what THAT might be… a nest? A victim?


BTW, I also saw and photographed my first Black-naped Monarch today (see below). Now I can die a happy man

Super find! 53 species of snake, well you need to night hike more and share more! What is that snakey looking thing in the top right corner of your first pic?

Do you have any other shots that show the tail of your viper? It could be another snake or lizard, but my guess is that it is just the tail of the same snake.

Congrats! Beautiful snake and photos. That bluish interscutal coloration is fabulous.

I'd agree that the brown scales are probably just that snakes tail.

THANKS
MATT

Here's another photo of a bamboo viper showing the tail. Looks a lot like the mystery tail in your first shot.


Above image from this site: http://www.giftschlangen-kampa.de/crotalidae.htm

That is awesome.
I like the third photo best btw, and has any one else noticed all the blue on this animal.
Thanks for posting the photos.

Atrox: Tail. ---------

-Dell

Beautiful snake! That would be a treat in deed. Congratulations on such a sweet find!

Ryan

Nice blue snake and nice blue bird. Thanks, Twoton. Looking forward to your next, equally productive night report.

That's a pretty sweet animal. Congrats on the find, nice photography, and series of interesting posts! Thanks for sharing.

-Cole

That third photo is great! Nice looking snake also.

Interesting how the colour varies... does anybody know if they are just variable or does this occur with age like in Green Tree Pythons?

I agree, the third photo is awesome. Cool snake.

The 3rd shot is great, and I like the 5th one as well. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for all the comments! I agree, the brown snaky looking thing must be his tail. I knew this species has a reddish-brown tail, but I was so exited last night I didn't think straight - thanks for all the help!!

For 2009, I've vowed to seek snakes where they are instead of waiting for chance encounters. I hike at least four times a week, but evidently that's not efficient. So I bought some literature on snake hunting and am conducting systematic interviews with the local farmers and park rangers about good safari spots. I'm also siphoning wisdom off my herp photography master, Professor Hsiang, who seems to have sold his soul to Beelzebub in exchange for seemingly unreal snake finding and photographing skills. Furthermore, I've ramped up my night hike equipment, and now that I've seen that you can find the buggers even in the midst of winter, there's no stopping me anymore

Cheers, and thanks again!

Hans

Awesome! The various green tree vipers are what first piqued my interest in arboreals. I would LOVE to see one in the wild one day. Congratulations and great shots!

York

Interesting indeed! I've combed a ton of Taiwanese sites to find just ONE with a red stripe like the one on Eby's pic, but to no avail. What gives?

BTW, are there any arboreals in the Continental US?

That's always been one of my favorite snakes....Beautiful to see here in pictures... And to find one in the wild would be fantastic!

Hans, a very exciting post - Bamboo vipers have always been one of my favorites. Thanks for the vicarious thrill!

-Mike

Nice find and photos. Especially the third one.

Hans,

Beautiful pics! Black-naped Monarchs are also very nice. You did well to take such a nice shot of these active birds.

Regards,
David