The amazing common cat snake is found mostly on coffee plantations in the Western Ghats.

A Magnificent Cat-eyed Snake

This magnificent creature is known to prey on little frogs and chameleons, and is interestingly found on tree holes, thatched roofs. During the monsoons in Coorg, it is extensively found around coffee plantations as it preys on frogs found here. Its thin neck enables it to twist small mammals and make a kill effectively before swallowing its prey.

Surprisingly, its head resembles that of a viper. It is thus often mistaken for a poisonous deadly viper. What is amusing in this regard is that this snake is non-venomous!  However, it releases certain toxins on its prey, which get dizzy on account of it, and finally die.  It then swallows them.

The Wonderful Reptile Coiled on the Floor

Interestingly, there are two different types of cat snakes found in the Western Ghats: one species is orange in colour and the other, brownish. Both snakes have ‘cat eyes’ which fascinatingly appear golden in colour.

The amazing common cat snake has an important role to play on coffee plantations in Coorg as it feeds on insects that damage coffee plants there.

Therefore, on your next plantation tour at Orange County, Coorg, do not forget to look out for this glorious creature!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 4:48 PM and is filed under Reptiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.