ASIATIC WATER SNAKE

"A snake knows more about what is happening around than any other creature because it has no ears to listen to gossip – only direct perception." - Jaggi Vasudev

The Checkered Keelback (Fowlea Piscator), also known commonly as the Asiatic Water Snake, is a common species of mild venomous snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Asia.

The Checkered Keelback is a medium-sized snake but may grow to be large. Adults may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 1.75 m (5.7 ft). The preferred habitat of Fowlea Piscator is in or near freshwater lakes or rivers and feeds mainly on small fish and water frogs.

Fowlea Piscator is oviparous. Clutch size is usually 30-70 eggs, but maybe as few as 4 or as many as 100. Egg size is also variable. Each egg maybe 1.5–4.0 cm (0.59–1.57 in) long. The female guards the eggs until they hatch. Each hatchling is about 11 cm (4.3 in) long.

Most of the time this snake tries to raise its head as much as possible and expand its neck skin mimicking a cobra hood and intimidate the threat.

Fowlea Piscator may lose its tail as an escape mechanism. A rare case of such autotomy is reported from Vietnam.

Local names in various countries:

Mizo – tui rul

Assamese – ঢোঁৰা সাপ

Bengali – জল ডোরা সাপ

Odia – ଧଣ୍ଡ ସାପ

Gujarati – dendu saap

Hindi – dendu saap

Indonesia – bandotan tutul

Kannada – ನೀರು ಹಾವು

Marathi – दिवड

Malayalam – നീർക്കോലി,പുളവൻ

Tamil – கண்டங்கண்டை நீர்க்கோலி (kandangkandai neerkoli)

Telugu – నీరు కట్టే (neeru katte)

Bihari – dhoriya saap

Nepali – dhode/dhoriya saap

Chinese (Traditional Chinese) – "漁游蛇"

Chinese (Simplified Chinese) – "渔游蛇"

Sinhalese - "දිය බරියා"

Subject: Snake Photography.

Content Source: Wikipedia.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 1300D, Camera Maker: Canon.

Image 1 Details (top): F-stop: f/5.6; Exposure Time: 1/100 sec.; ISO Speed: 200; Focal Lenth: 250mm; Max Aperture: 5; Metering Mode: Partial.

Image 2 Details (left): F-stop: f/5.6; Exposure Time: 1/100 sec.; ISO Speed: 200; Focal Lenth: 250mm; Max Aperture: 5; Metering Mode: Partial.

Image 3 Details (right): F-stop: f/5.6; Exposure Time: 1/200 sec.; ISO Speed: 400; Focal Lenth: 250mm; Max Aperture: 5; Metering Mode: Partial.

Date Taken: January 14, 2018.

Photo by: Mounajit Mitra.