Serpentine surprise! Rare flying snake species found and rescued in Hyderabad

The reptile was hiding in a rolling shutter.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia (Representational image)

New Delhi: The busy commercial locality of Goshamahal in Hyderabad experienced an Ophidiophobic's worst nightmare – a flying snake.

The rare species, called the Ornate Flying Snake or Chrysopelea ornata was found and rescued from a rolling shutter it had managed to hide itself in.

It is a mildly venomous snake and has reportedly never been seen in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh.

After being caught by the Friends of Snake Society rescuers, it was shifted to the Sanikpuri rescue centre.

Usually flying snakes are seen in the Western Ghats, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, North-East India and South East Asia.

A report in the Deccan Chronicle said that, there are numerous timber depots near the rescue site and according to the experts it was likely that this snake was accidentally transported from another state along with timber or plywood cargo.

Friends of Snake Society joint secretary Arun Kumar said, “We received a distress call on our helpline from a shopkeeper in Goshamahal, Hyderabad who said that he had seen a small snake near the entrance of his plywood shop,” Deccan Chronicle reported.

The Ornate Flying Snake is one of the three species of flying snakes found in India. These serpents are capable of gliding in the air by flattening their body and at times becoming almost twice their normal width. They can form a concave shape to trap air and glide between branches and trees with utmost ease.