Strike

Female Rock Pythons lay up to 100 eggs between March and June and stay with them for the 80 days till they hatch. I guess this kid freshly out of his shell came to my house. He was only approximately 9 inches long and looked so damn cute. I tried to hold his tail with my bare hand, but I guess that scared him enough to get back to my hand only to bite. Luckily, apprehensive enough to be alert with him, I removed my hand in time. Otherwise, though not venomous, the bite of a python is painful because of the many sharp teeth it has in its mouth. Then with the help of a stick it was caught and put in a bucket.

This snap of him is while he is inside the bucket aiming for a strike at anything that comes nearby. Although I did leave a live earthworm for him to feast over, he did not even care to kill that one. He too must be a 'Jain' I guess.

The Eye

The unemotional eye of an Indian Rock Python. I love the way he stared at me while I clicked him. Well, Snakes appear to stare at their prey because they have no eyelids. The eyes of snakes are lidless, but are protected by a tough, transparent covering, or scale, that is shed with the skin. Within the animal world, they tend to have one of the most beautiful eyes.

Fear

Only four snake species across the whole of India are venomous enough to kill us. They are- Cobras, Kraits, Russell's Vipers and Pit Vipers. But the fear of these four make us kill the rest of them all too. Poor them, for no fault of theirs what they are awarded by us is nothing but a cruel death.

I had to click three snaps before I could capture his tongue once. Its just so fast. A Snake or a Python finds its prey by using this tongue. It places its tongue on its Jacobson's organ after having its tongue in the air. It touches its tongue on the two pits by the Jacobson's organ to allow it to properly sense its prey. The reason snakes have a forked tongue is so that the tongue can touch these pits. The deeper the fork in a snake's tongue, the more the snake uses its Jacobson's organ.

Collage

Nothing to say for this one- A macro close up of a python's scales. Collage is well-suited because of the way these varied scales are forming a distinct pattern giving him his identity.

Curvaceous

What else could have I tagged this beauty with? This is the second snap of that same python which you can find below. He is a 2 year old Indian Rock Python still growing. You may notice the recent growth towards its tail, still bright and shiny. Sitting tranquil in my house's front lawn this one just kept on curling in a splendid yet bravura display of raw power. It being a cold-blooded animal, actually feels cold to touch to. You can actually feel its constricting muscles moving inside the body which give you a good idea how would you feel if caught between them.

Although this python stayed mostly idle and motionless here, but when we went off to free him in the jungle, the speed with which he jumped out of the sack was worth admiration. I never could have attributed that agility to this bulky creature unless seen with my own eye. Once in a lifetime opportunity I must say!!

Herculean

The two species of Python found in India are the Indian Rock Python, which lives in both scrub forests and dense jungles throughout the country, and the Regal Python, which is found in north-east India and Nicobar islands. The one there is possibility of your seeing is the Indian Rock Python [Python Molurus] although the snakeskin industry has all but wiped it out in many areas. This is a non-venomous, python species, often been killed for its fine skin and is endangered. Lethargic and slow moving even in its native habitat, they exhibit little timidity and rarely try to escape even when attacked. After a heavy meal, they are disinclined to move. If forced to, hard parts of the meal may tear through the body. Therefore, if disturbed, some specimens will disgorge their meal in order to escape from potential predators.

Caught near my home at Ajmer, the same is what happened with this guy- He'd just had a nice breakfast out of a peacock. So, when he'd been caught, he just vomitted out the whole of peacock. So far there have been no authentic cases of a human being eaten by this species; but this one with his neat 10 feet long body and weighing approximately 10 Kgs did look overbearing. After clicking his snaps, I went along with the Forest Department to free him into the nearby forests.

Stand at Ease

Another Cobra snap! Please click here to see the earlier Cobra snap. This guy was majestic- so huge! Its one of the biggest hoods I've ever seen (except on TV). I guess thats why, he was standing at an ease against any of the passers bye. But you see, stand at ease here has a dual meaning- howsoever fearsome a Cobra may look, he won't come and attack you; so if you see one, you may as well stand at ease and appreciate his beauty.

C for Cobra

C for Cobra: Just for info's sake, the name cobra (naja naja) is short for cobra de capello, which is Portuguese for snake with hood. This is my favourite animal- sleek, slender, swift, supreme... and the list goes on. I like this specie of snakes especially because of their ability to form a hood, their perfect arch shape giving their personality another dimension.

Unfortunately, this guy had been unlawfully kept by a snake charmer. I donno why the government does nothing against them. I clicked this snap in Pushkar (Rajasthan) when the snake charmer was trying to fool people by making this guy dance in rhythm with his been (snakes are deaf!). It was hard, since I only have a Nikon AF VR 18-55 mm lens and had to take my gear too close to him to capture his features sharply- but the risk was worth it.