Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

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LouB747
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Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

Lately I've been trying to arrange my schedule to get a Singapore overnight. Last month I managed to go and found this cool Pink Headed Reed Snake.
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This month I got another 2 day Singapore trip. The flight from Tokyo left around 8:30pm. About 7 hrs later I landed in Singapore. I got to the hotel around 3:30am. I decided to hit the ground running. Around 4:30 I arrived at the trailhead. Being in the jungle alone at night is a strange but cool feeling. I set out to find my main goal, a whip snake. Its a common snake, but one I've always wanted to see. I've been told they sleep in trees at night and can be spotted relatively easily. I really like trying to spot snakes in trees. It's a new way of herping that is so unlike my normal SoCal ways.
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About an hour in I see the unmistakable shape of a snake. I grab the video cam and start to film. But as the light shines on the snake for the second time, he decides its time to move. While I know most of the Singapore snakes, thanks in part to the SG Snakes app, I wanted to be 100% positive about what I was grabbing. As he started to bolt I made a quick ID and grabbed him. The quick ID was that he wasn't a cobra, coral, or viper. There are quite a few rear fanged snakes that I wasn't sure if I wanted to get bit by, so I was as cautious as possible. I was thinking Bronzeback, but couldn't remember if the were mildly venomous. So I treated him in a manner so as not to get bit. I took a few pictures.....
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It wasn't until after getting back to the hotel that I found out it was totally harmless. A Painted Bonzeback. Oh well, there's one more night.



The next night I planned on herping with Singaporean Noel Thomas who I met on my previous trip. We met for dinner and had a few beers, but rain kept us from going out. I set my alarm for 4am and decided to see what the weather was like then. Being on US west coast time made 4am easy. I awoke and it was still raining a bit. I checked the radar and it didn't look great. No thunderstorms, but a constant slow rain.
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I decided to go anyway and by 5am I was out walking the forest at night again. This time in the rain. Oh well, there's always a chance I thought. For those that don't know the area, Singapore always gets some rain. Usually thunderstorms. Just about every day looks the same on the iphone app.....
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So a light constant rain isn't that bad I thought. The snakes are used to it and it probably doesn't matter. After an hour and a half, I saw plenty of frogs, but no snakes.
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As the sun was coming up around 6:45, the light rain stopped. I decided to make a slow walk back with the hopes of seeing any crepuscular snakes.


As I wasn't in a hurry and wanted the sun to come up a bit, I took a few shots of the area...
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I love the jungle!
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It was now 7:30 and I decided it was a good time to go have a look. I sent the following text to my brother who's also into snakes....
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In my mind I was trying to visualize seeing a green whip snake in the trees. That seemed plausible. But seeing a 15 ft king cobra or a blue coral snake seemed almost impossible. So. off I went searching the trees and bushes for movement. I'd occasionally check near the path for movement on the ground as well. I stopped to take a picture of a fallen tree. I'm not sure why, but I did. I checked the ground near it and saw nothing. I started back down the path. About a minute later I look ahead of me and slightly to my left and can't believe my eyes. About 20 feet away is a 5 ft blue coral snake! It's fully stretched out and perpendicular to the path. I start freaking out! There it is. The brilliamt blue is amazing. Then I notice the red head and tail. Equally amazing. I've always wanted to see one of these snakes, but never thought I actually would. I drop my backpack and get the video going. I have a camera in the other hand. I take a quick voucher shot.....

In Situ. Actually one of my favorite shots as it's a moment I won't ever forget. My hands are shaking as I'm taking video.
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The snake was amazing! My simple photos don't do it justice. Did I tell you already that I was freaking out. The colors were incredible.
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I got to hang out with this snake for about 20 mins before he dissapeared under thick leaf litter and fallen trees.
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I decided to wait it out and see if he reapeared. Whle waiting I walked the area within 20 or 30 ft of where I saw him disappear. Then, like magic, about 10 minutes later, there he is. It was almost like seeing him for the first time again. Fully stretched out and glowing. He didn't stay long this time and I watched him disappear into a hole at the base of a tree.

I decided to wait it out again. About ten more minutes go by and I'm walking the general area. About 15 feet in front of me, there he is! But he looks a little smaller. Perhaps a little more colorful, if that's possible. I thought maybe all the adrenaline made me mistake the size. But I'm thinking this is a different snake. I take this quick shot after getting him on top on the leaves. He quickly puffed up a bit and coiled his tail.
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I walk about 20 ft to where the first snake went into the hole at the base of the tree. There he is! His heads out about 6 inches and he's pearing out at me. Se this is a second snake! An afterthought, I never really considered stepping on another one of these while filming the first. I'll be more careful next time.

Final shot.
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I have some great video to go through when I get home. I'll post it soon.

Seeing these snakes was a lifetime goal for me. OK, more like a dream. Maybe it is for many. I never really thought I would see one. I feel extremely lucky to have spent time with these snakes. After the experience, which lasted over an hour, I let out a huge yell, or scream. I can't remember which.

Lou
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Curtis Hart
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by Curtis Hart »

That is a great experience! I'm glad you saw those impressive snakes.




Curtis
page whatley
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by page whatley »

Amazing snake, good luck
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by Antonsrkn »

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Wow this is what I was hoping to see on about 100 different night hikes in Borneo, unfortunately even after spending weeks on end out there no such luck. Amazing snakes! So you saw the blue coral in the morning once it was light out already, interesting. I always wondered what the peak hours of activity were in the jungle were for herps and what I noticed after several all night hikes was it seemed like things would be moving from dusk to about midnight and things would quiet down. Then again at 530ish activity seemed to pick up and last a few hours. Alot of this is based on frogs and their calls as well as mammals, i just didnt see enough snakes to make a judgement about when they were most active were, seemed like all the finds came at random unpredictable times. Anyways great job, congrats!
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by LouB747 »

I found the first one around 7:30. The official sunrise was 6:45. I found the second one around 8:00 or so. The area they were in had considerable leaf litter. Large leaves as you can see. They sure seem at home in it. It rained most of the day before as well as in the night. Everything was wet, although it wasn't raining during the encounter. The first picture I think makes it appear a little darker than it was.

Again, I'll post video in a few days. I used a GoPro, probably not ideal for this situation. But it does have a waterproof housing which allowed for shooting. I also had it mounted on a pole for a few shots, so I got close. I'm not sure how well it handles low light. Or exactly how close it focuses. But I'm sure some of it is going to turn out. The camera locked up on me though shortly into the filming. Turned out to be an SD card problem. Next time I'll bring more than one!

These snakes are really docile and just go about their business. They didn't seem to be concerned with me at all. I had to move out of the way more than once while filming as they got a little close.

Good luck with your search.
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by LouB747 »

Quick frame grab of some video...
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Unfortunately I had some video problems. I shot with a GoPro, which had the advantage of being able to be used in the rain. I also had a pole to mount it on. So I was able to get close. The downside, they can be glitchy. It locked up shortly into the shoot. I reformatted the SD card later, and all is well. But it cost me some better footage. Oh well, I'm happy to have something. Will put it up on youtube later and post a link.
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Ribbit
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Re: Sing n the Blues

Post by Ribbit »

Great story. You really captured the thrill of seeing an animal that you have longed to see. And that is indeed a species worth longing for.

John
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

Thanks guys. It's been about a week and I can't stop thinking about my encounter. I put a short video up on youtube. It may still be processing or something. It only shows 360p on my computer, but 720p on my iphone. Not sure what's up. Should be 1080p.

As the GoPro shoots mainly in wideangle, you really have to get close to make the snake show up. Please excuse the shaky video in the beginning, I was so excited I was actually shaking.....a lot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJd9abzrPVw

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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

Not sure how to embed the video.
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dery
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by dery »

LouB747 wrote:Not sure how to embed the video.

You got it on the first try. I could view your video directly from that link.
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chrish
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by chrish »

Wow. I generally find videos of animals in these posts to be boring and superfluous. But in this case, the video gives a real "sense" of the snake that I have never felt from the dozens of photos I've seen. It is awesome how you captured that sense in the video. I feel like I know something more about these animals having watched. I rarely get that from a photo or video online.

Well done! :beer:

I should add, I guess, that I had the sound turned off. I don't know what the soundtrack adds, but the video has a real "I was there" feel.
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

Thanks so much. Not much to the soundtrack, except me in the beginning getting excited about the find. I had the waterproof cover on the back of the GoPro, so the sound was pretty muted anyway.
I did edit a bunch of it out. I was going to edit that part out as well because it's so shaky, but I felt it was part of the experience.

As far as these snakes go, I obviously don't know too much. But from the hour I spent with 2 of them, they seem very docile. The must not have many predators, if any, as they seem to move without much care for what's going on around them. While I fumbled around behind them, in front of them, and beside them, they really didn't seem to care. I had the camera within inches of them and they never really seemed to care about that either. In the one shot, with the entire snake going in front of the lens, I had to keep a careful eye on where the snakes head was going. Not that I thought that he'd bite me, but I didn't want to step on him. That said, I did keep a safe distance at all times. I don't handle hots, nor do I plan to in the future. I do get the impression that the only way one of these snakes will bite you is if you step on it. Or possible pick it up.

I'm hoping for another Singapore trip in early December. I'll definitely be looking for another if I go.
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Eric East
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by Eric East »

That is a truly amazing snake; congrats!
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regalringneck
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by regalringneck »

... incredible post, & video thnx 4 sharing :beer:
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Ruxs
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by Ruxs »

Lucky bastard! :mrgreen:
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dery
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by dery »

Ruxs wrote:Lucky bastard! :mrgreen:
Yeh, I'm desperate for even my first micrurus/micruroides.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Ruxs wrote:Lucky bastard! :mrgreen:
What Roop said. I have yet to see a live one, and I've clocked in hundreds of herping trips just across the puddle from S'pore.

The video is a highly intense experience. There's no soundtrack but the forest sounds, and the snake really glows blue in the early jungle light. My stomach almost cramped with excitement watching this. This is triple X, ultra-hardcore herp porn: it made me want to go herping so badly, I almost closed down my shop and headed for the next patch of forest. Alas, my truck is at the shop...dammit!

Thank you for the Double X (excellent and exciting) narration and documentation!!

PS:
Just about every day looks the same on the iphone app.....
In real life, too. 24/356!
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

Triple X, ultra-hardcore herp porn.

Yeah, that about sums up the experience!
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LouB747
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Re: Sing n the Blues (New video of Blue Coral Snake)

Post by LouB747 »

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