Vipers of Southern India - June 2019 - Leopard Tech Labs

June 2019

Vipers of
Southern
India

Monsoon Experience
The Western Ghats are one of the most bio-diverse regions in the World! This diversity is also very clear from the number of snake species
found here and the vipers are amongst the most spectacular of them.

With six described species of pit vipers and two true vipers, the region is a treasure trove for the enthusiast. We’re heading out at the right
time and to all the right places to look for these incredible snakes and this is your chance to come along!

Gerry Martin
Group Leader

Gerry began his career in 1995 at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, under the
mentorship of Rom Whitaker, as a young assistant curator. In 2000, he went on
to become National Geographic Channel’s first Indian ‘Adventurer’- a face for the
channel in Asia. He gave up television to work in the field of education and
conservation and founded TGMP as a for-profit, responsible, conservation
entrepreneurship. The projects he runs today include community based,
sustainable conservation; snakebite mitigation, training and equipping forest
officers and research in rural landscapes to aid conservation efforts. Gerry’s
decades of experience herping in the forests of South India and his extensive
networks make him the perfect choice to lead a group into the Western Ghats.

Day 1: 18th June 2019
Wildernest Nature
Resort, Goa
Arrival in Goa. Transfer to Wildernest Nature Resort (Drive time ~
3 hours). Stay in twin sharing ‘Valley View’ cottages.
Focus Species: Echis carinatus and Trimerusurus gramineus. We will
also see numerous other herps here. Commonly sighted are Ahaetulla
nasuta, Boiga ceylonensis, Amphiesma beddomei, Lycodon species,
various caecilians and frogs, geckos, etc.

Wildernest is a truly amazing resort, located on one small corner of a
450-acre patch of private forest that forms a corridor between two
critical protected areas. Aside from all the amazing reptiles and
amphibians, the place is a haven for amazing bird life, various large
game (including sloth bear and tiger) and a host of invertebrates.

We will hit the ground running, looking for saw-scaled vipers, bamboo
pit vipers and Malabar pit vipers here. We’ll stay here for three nights.

Dates: 18th to 21st, June

Day 4: Nature’s Nest, Goa
Post breakfast transfer to Nature’s Nest Resort (Drive time ~ 2.5
hours). Accommodation in twin sharing, eco-cottages.

Nature’s Nest, abuts the Mollem National Park and shares a lot of
the fauna with it. Especially its herpetofauna!

Focus species: Hypnale hypnale. Although we’ll be looking primarily
for hump-nosed pit vipers, the place is also well known for Draco
dussumierii, king cobras, Whitaker’s boas, Malabar pit vipers,
Bungarus caeruleus and a host of other interesting species. There’s
also a fair chance that we will see a Bengal monitor while here.

Day 4 and 5 will be spent here herping, pretty much, all the time.

Day 6: 23rd June 2019

This will be a travel day. We will fly to either Coimbatore or Madurai
(depending on our numbers) and then drive the remaining four hours
to Kodaikanal.

Day 7: Kodaikanal
             We’ll be at an altitude of over 1500 mASL and will be
looking almost exclusively for Trimerusurus macrolepis, the large
scaled green pit viper. This is a truly gorgeous species that is a high
altitude specialist. We’ll be joined by local herper, Melvin Selvin who
has grown up in these hills and knows where we might find these
nocturnal snakes. The Palni Hills are also home to a variety of endemic
reptiles and amphibians that we will hopefully have the good fortune
of bumping into.

              Accommodation will be twin sharing. We will be
finalizing the location over the next few weeks, either at Melvin’s farm
house or book ourselves into a nearby resort.

             Kodaikanal will take two days of our time.

Day 9: 26th June
Red Hills Nature Stay
We will leave Kodaikanal post breakfast for the a long, but, beautiful
drive. About seven hours away are the Nilgiri Hills, possibly, the most
biodiverse spot in the Western Ghats.

Here, we will head to Red Hill Nature Stay, a resort high up in these
beautiful hills. Our focus will be to find the rarely seen horse-shoe pit
viper (Trimerusurus strigatus). Not many people have seen this species
and there are only a handful of photographs floating around. We’re
going to the place where this species is most likely to be seen and
have the guidance of some local folks who know where we might be
successful.

Other species that we’ll encounter there are Ahaetulla perotetti, Salea
horsfieldii and many other species endemic to the region.

Accommodation will be in shared rooms with en suite bathrooms.

Day 12: 29th June
             We will now drive approximately five hours to our final
destination- The Centre for Conservation and Education (CCE) in
Hunsur.

             Accommodation: Sharing cabins. Bathrooms are in a
separate block.

Focus Species: Daboia russelii. The Russell’s viper.

CCE is conducting a Russell’s viper telemetry-based ecology study and
we will get a chance to track some of the subjects and help out with
the project in general. We will also go out to a nearby sanctuary to
spot wild Indian mugger crocodiles.

We will also get to go on any snake rescue calls that the Centre
receives.

Day 13: 30th June: Departure. End of services.

Contact:
gerry@gerrymartin.in

  +919483509004

Skype: gerrynmartin