A ‘flying snake’ was rescued from district headquarters town of Mayurbhanj in Dhanpur village in Odisha today. Called the Ornate Flying Snake are not so common in India but have been seen in some parts of North Bengal. The snake was rescued and and released by the rescue team of Similipal Tiger Reserve.

These snakes cannot fly but they are called so because of their ability to glide in between the trees. “This species of snake is rarely found in India. We spotted the snake capable of gliding for the first time here,” head of animal rescue team from Similipal Tiger Reserve Krushna Chandra Gocchayat said to the Odisha Sun Times. The rescued snake was one-metre long and had red spots on them.

Take a look at the pictures of the rare ornate flying snake:

The snake was seen coiled in a bunch of firewoods behind a bicycle. The animal rescue team was called in and a three-member team came for the rescue. The team was led by Krushna Chandra Gocchayat, including Chandan Kumar Gocchayat, Deepak Kumar Bentakar who successfully rescued the rare snake. The incident took place at 2.50pm. It was handed over to the Forest officials who released it in the wild. The same species was also found in Hyderabad in monsoons last year.

About the Rare Ornate Flying Snake:

Red spotted ornate snake (Photo credits: Wikimedia commons)

The Ornate snake belongs to the Colubridae family of snakes which are the most common in the world. It is commonly found in South and South East Asia.  It is rare-fanged and has a smooth ability to glide. It is commonly green in color, with black cross-hatching and yellow or gold colored accents over it. It has large eyes. This snake ranges from 11.5 to 130 cm (0.38 to 4.27 ft) long. In Sri Lanka and South of India, the green coloured species is seen. The red spotted variety is seen mostly in  Southeast Asia. The snake is mildly venomous.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 18, 2018 04:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).