Adult Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatranus), ca. 100 cm. Hard to get macro shots from a snake with a two-foot strike range and an attitude like a switchblade fighter. Every time I moved, the snake reacted by repositioning its stance in a barely noticeable, yet highly determined fashion. I would have loved to see the blue inside of the mouth, but my wife insisted I stay on the sane side of things....
Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatranus)
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- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Who do you want to please -- one sensible woman, or a whole community of lunatic herpers? Blue mouth! Blue mouth! Blue mouth!
Awesome snake, even without the blue mouth showing. But just imagine how much *more* awesome...
John
Awesome snake, even without the blue mouth showing. But just imagine how much *more* awesome...
John
- Martti Niskanen
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Did you actually find this one, Hans? If yes, you're being awfully modest and quiet about it. If I had found one, most of the world would know about it within a few hours.
edit: Had a sneaky look elsewhere and you DID find it. Spectacular species. Details (no locations of course) of where you found it would be nice. I have the impression that Parias are largely canopy-dwelling species and thus difficult to find. Any truth to this?
edit: Had a sneaky look elsewhere and you DID find it. Spectacular species. Details (no locations of course) of where you found it would be nice. I have the impression that Parias are largely canopy-dwelling species and thus difficult to find. Any truth to this?
- YoungHerpetologist02
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Great picture of the Sumatran Pitviper, the first one is my favorite.
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
My thoughts exactly.Martti Niskanen wrote: If I had found one, most of the world would know about it within a few hours.
Very interesting, that could easily explain this snake's illusiveness, as it did with the Gonyophis. Reports I have seen before have always been of people finding them in ambush on saplings or crossing forest trails. I'm a little more familiar with the Trimeresurus (Parias) hageni, which is occasionally seen on (lower) branches of trees, but much more frequently found on saplings and low shrubs. Of course, that could just be because humans don't get into the canopy very often... Whatever the case, Parias are certainly more arboreal than the other vipers in this region, although I would have thought their favourite meal (frogs) would make them stick closer to the ground, well, unless they are big on the Rhacorphorids, which I wasn't aware of.Martti Niskanen wrote: I have the impression that Parias are largely canopy-dwelling species and thus difficult to find. Any truth to this?
- Martti Niskanen
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
It could also be complete rubbish from my partRuxs wrote: Very interesting, that could easily explain this snake's illusiveness
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
But it was an intriguing suggestion...Martti Niskanen wrote:It could also be complete rubbish from my partRuxs wrote: Very interesting, that could easily explain this snake's illusiveness
- Rich in Reptiles
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Hehe!! You know what they say... "Happy wife, happy life"...Ribbit wrote:Who do you want to please -- one sensible woman, or a whole community of lunatic herpers? Blue mouth! Blue mouth! Blue mouth!
What a gorgeous snake, do you ever take videos of the herps you find? That would be cool to see it's behavior in action.
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Thanks for the nice comments, guys!
No, I didn't find this snake. But it's not a pet. That's all I'm at liberty to say
Indraneil Das told me that this is a mid-range montane species unlikely to cross lowland roads and trails (where the majority of herpers go about their business around these parts).
Sadly, I never shoot video. I really should, I know. But I'm still learning how to handle a photo camera and somehow not ready yet to learn another tool.
No, I didn't find this snake. But it's not a pet. That's all I'm at liberty to say
Indraneil Das told me that this is a mid-range montane species unlikely to cross lowland roads and trails (where the majority of herpers go about their business around these parts).
Sadly, I never shoot video. I really should, I know. But I'm still learning how to handle a photo camera and somehow not ready yet to learn another tool.
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Hans...I feel like someday I need to take a trek out to where you are and just follow you around shooting photos of the stuff you find. Excellent snake.
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
What a beauty, Hans!
My, how I envy your herpadventures!!
Cheers,
Paul
My, how I envy your herpadventures!!
Cheers,
Paul
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Fantastic photos of an amazing snake!
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Thanks again, all!
- walk-about
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Hans - Beautiful specimen! First photograph very well composed. Would such an arboreal snake perhaps use that reddish-tipped tail as a caudel lure???
Rock ON!
Dave
Rock ON!
Dave
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
I loved the 2nd shot, and I agree Blue mouth, Blue Mouth! LOL, I'm sure this was quite the rush to find and photo.
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Thanks again for the compliments!
I'm pretty sure it would - you see reddish tail tips in many arboreal South-East Asian pitvipers, and they've been confirmed as caudal lures in a number of them (e.g. Vividovipera stejnegeri)walk-about wrote:Would such an arboreal snake perhaps use that reddish-tipped tail as a caudel lure???
- Tonia Graves
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Gorgeous snake! Would love to see the blue mouth as well!
- MontyNajar
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
...just more fan mail here. WOW!! I knew I was an amateur, but thank you for reminding me in such a clear and dramatic way. lol
Just to chime in - my vote is to stay safe and then even a further 1ft back from that. Avoid harassing the animal TOO too much. Leave the blue mouth pics for another, luckier day.
Just to chime in - my vote is to stay safe and then even a further 1ft back from that. Avoid harassing the animal TOO too much. Leave the blue mouth pics for another, luckier day.
Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Hans, those are beautiful shots and I also tip my hat to you for composing such a great sentence to go with them!Hard to get macro shots from a snake with a two-foot strike range and an attitude like a switchblade fighter.
My sentiments exactly. You may get an awesome blue mouth shot, but it might be your last one. And then the shot would probably never make it onto the forum for all your eggers-on to see!MontyNajar wrote:Just to chime in - my vote is to stay safe and then even a further 1ft back from that. Avoid harassing the animal TOO too much. Leave the blue mouth pics for another, luckier day.
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra
Thanks again for the nice compliments and the display of common sense & sanity
But before you get too much an exalted opinion of my photographic chops: the light was crap (early equatorial afternoon, too dark in the shade, too bright outside), and of all the pictures I took, these here were the only halfway useful ones, and even that only after heavy editing and cropping (the "macro" tongue shot is just a crop, as you can see form the graininess)
Let's just say that if I had shot this session on 100% manual control and with an equally fine, but less forgiving camera (such as my Dad's semi-automatic Hasselblad from the early Seventies), and if it weren't for modern image editing software for putting heavy mascara on the pig, every single picture would have been utter crap. Translation: I'm just a lucky amateur with access to machines that fake it for me
But before you get too much an exalted opinion of my photographic chops: the light was crap (early equatorial afternoon, too dark in the shade, too bright outside), and of all the pictures I took, these here were the only halfway useful ones, and even that only after heavy editing and cropping (the "macro" tongue shot is just a crop, as you can see form the graininess)
Let's just say that if I had shot this session on 100% manual control and with an equally fine, but less forgiving camera (such as my Dad's semi-automatic Hasselblad from the early Seventies), and if it weren't for modern image editing software for putting heavy mascara on the pig, every single picture would have been utter crap. Translation: I'm just a lucky amateur with access to machines that fake it for me