The world is gifted with beautiful flora as well as fauna but still there are many hidden creatures in this ecosystem who work behind the scenes to contribute to the tremendous beauty which we see today. Often these beauties ‘who work behind the scenes’ are poorly known and leave the world mystified about their salient features and habits.

Curiosity regarding these undiscovered species has brought herpetologists from around the world to document India's hidden mysterious creatures. The habits of the Giri’s Bronzeback Tree Snake Dendrelaphis girii is one. Relatively unknown before 2011 it was due to the efforts of renowned naturalist Varad Giri this elegant creature has become much more familiar to the herpetological community. The Giri’s Bronzeback is widely spread across the western ghats of India. It is assumed by the experts that there are still many more undiscovered species to identify in India and it's expected their efforts will continue to uncover more gems like this in the future..

With a thin, long and slender body covered with smooth scales, the color of bronzeback tree snakes has always fascinated me. When they stretch their body one can see the beautiful bright blue color hiding behind its scales. If you look at the picture given abve, the head of the snake appears as if it has been polished by mixture of gold and bronze, and you can also see the blue color. The maximum length of these snakes is 105cm and it feeds on lizards, frogs and small rodents.

Photo by: Saleel Gharpure