The Günther's racer, Coluber gracilis , (non-venomous), is one of the species of racer snakes found in India.

It is named after the great German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist Albert Günther.

Racer snakes are known for their speed and quickness; the Günther's racer is also known for his beautiful appearance, with large eyes having round pupils, and grayish-brown body with narrow, black-edged yellow bands.

These bands are darker toward the head and lighter toward the tail. The head can be distinctively identified with a black-edged yellow inverted ‘V’ mark. The underside is white.

An average size of Günther's racer that I’ve been familiar with was 30-50cms long. This beautiful, fast snake lives under dried leaves or stones and feeds on geckos and skinks. It is viviparous by nature and lays 4-7 eggs during May and June.

I've only had the opportunity to rescue these beautiful snakes three times. When I got the call about Günther's racer, it was from someone I knew telling me a tiny snake entered her office. She even sent me its picture online, but before I had a look at the picture I was planning to transfer the call to another rescuer because the place was around 20 miles away. However, the picture was very helpful for me to recognize it was a Günther's racer.

I decided to rescue this tiny creature myself, as it is very rare to find one. It was a very delightful rescue, as it was an average sized Günther's racer which helped me a lot in my research as well.

Photo: Riyav Khoja