April 22, 2010. Sarah and Rachel were arrived in Manila, Philippines by airport for their expedition to find the new species of snake, one particular new species that they are hoping to find is the Philippine Krait (Bungarus philippinensis). Their first stop will be in Northern Sierra Madre National Park which is located in eastern part of Isabella province. They will be joined by a Filipina snake herper named Tiffany Cruz (21) for the expedition to find and document the elusice Philippine Krait. Their bagpacks filled with snake tongs, food, water and first aid kit for snakebite just in case of emergency. As they continued to walked into the forested area in search for the elusive Philippine Krait. Then, Tiffany spotted a snake slithering on the forest floor.
"Snake!" Tiffany said as she grabbed the snake by the tail and holds very gently by using bare hands. "A new species of rat snake, the Northern Sierra Madre Red Rat Snake (Elaphe sierramadreensis)."
"What a beautiful non-venomous rat snake." Rachel said.
"Our first lucky snake of the day." Sarah said.
"This snake is found in Cagayan, Isabella, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya. It prefers forests and mountains. It is a diurnal terrestrial and arboreal species feeding on rodents, birds, bats and lizards." Tiffany explained. "It is a vibrant red snake with burgundy blotches all the way down to its tail. Its belly is cream."
Sarah and Rachel take notes of the information about the Northern Sierra Madre Red Rat Snake.
Tiffany measuring the snake size.
"5 feet 5 inches long. A good size adult." Tiffany said.
"Let's count the dorsal scales, ventral scales and subcaudal scales." Sarah said.
The trio counted the dorsal scales, ventral scales and subcaudal scales.
"Yup. 27 dorsal scales 187 ventral scales and 57 subcaudal scales." Tiffany said.
"That's a great scale numbering. We will added this to our records of our data research." Sarah said.
"When is this snake's mating season?" Rachel asked.
"The Northern Sierra Madre Rat Snake usually mates from mid-June to early July, the female laid their eggs by August, under the logs, sometimes even in the old, abandoned birds nests in the hole of the trees." Tiffany said.
"That's the interesting reproduction info that we need." Sarah said as she and Rachel takes notes about the rat snake's reproduction.
After document and taking few photographs of the Northern Sierra Madre Red Rat Snake, Tiffany released the snake back to the wild.
5 hours later,
Sarah, Rachel and Tiffany continued their search for the Philippine Krait for around 3 hours without any luck of finding that elusive snake species. They sat on the large flat boulder on the stream to rest and eat their lunch after long hours of hiking in the woods.
They noticed the stream is perfect place to find snakes.
"There are amphibians here in the streams, perfect meal for any snakes that were trying to eat them."
"Yeah, this is a perfect place for snakes. This may one of the habitats that the Philippine Krait would inhabit in the forest besides living in a cave." Sarah said.
Later, they take off their respective boots and placed their barefoot on the shallow water as they tried to search in the rock crevice in the shallow stream to find snakes.
Sarah used her trekking pole to probe in the crevices just in case of any snakes that was hidden underneath that large boulder. "We need to be super careful around large boulder or fallen logs in case of snakes in it." Sarah said as she searching in the shallow stream.
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Sarah Higgins: The American Snake Herper
RandomSarah Higgins is a 20-year-old American snake herper who is a young herpetologist who specialized in snakes. She is on a quest to find and document new species of snake that hasn't been described or remained undiscovered.
