Snake feeding on Earthworm Photographed by Vinodh Venugopal
Photograph Description: It was a pleasant day with intermittent rain. During our field visit in the afternoon, we found this beautiful snake – a Large-scaled Shieldtail (Uropeltis macrolepis) – on a pathway. The snake caught an earthworm and started feeding on it. The earthworm struggled hard, but the snake was determined (and hungry too!). It was amazing to watch it slowly gobble up its meal.
Shieldtails are a family of burrowing snakes that are endemic to South India and Sri Lanka. One comes across these snakes in the rainforests of Western Ghats typically in monsoons. They are usually brightly-coloured and small in size. Some species have a flat shield-like ending to the tail that they use to cover up their burrows. They feed mainly on earthworms and are usually found under rocks or leaf litter.
Technical Details: Focal Length 105mm macro | f/8 | 1/100sec | ISO 400 A macro lens helped capture details of the snake and the earthworm (both small in size).
Vinodh Venugopal made this image during Darter’s Rainforest Rendezvous tour of Amboli in August 2013.