Wolf Snake

The common wolf snake or wolf snake is biologically termed as Lycodon that is a new Latin term that was originally derived from the ancient Greek word “lycans” which means wolf and “odon” which means tooth that belongs to the family of Colubridae and is a genus of colubrid snake. They are non-venomous with large teeth present in both upper and lower jaws. They are commonly found in the lowlands forests like in both terrestrial and arboreal habitats. They often prefer to hide in trees or in the crevices of the fig. There are many species of wolf snake that are divided into many species and genera based on their characteristics and habitation. For instance, one kind of Asian wolf snake that is predominantly found in Sri Lanka falls into the genera Cercaspis and Lycodon that also consists of 26 other species of wolf snake that are found in Southern Asia. Other than Asian wolf snakes, 18 different species of African wolf snakes belong to the genus Lycophidion. The common wolf snake is also known as house snakes as it also prefers to dwell in buildings and properties that are old and belong to an ancient era near abundant forests. They are said to feed on geckos in such sites. Though it is quite a harmless snake, it is often ready to bite if disturbed or feels threatened. The wolf snakes are often confused with the common krait. An illustration of a wolf snake is given below.

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Description of Wolf Snake

1. Identification: As the wolf snakes are identified with their enlarged teeth in both jaws thus they were named wolf snakes. Their body size is relatively slender and small with smooth scales and they have a flattened head which is relatively larger than the proportion of their body and shoulder. Their body, that is its dorsal skin is generally brown with little patches of yellowish marking that gives an illusion of a reticulate pattern. Also, a yellow band is running around their neck that is extended to its supralabials lip scale and it also appears yellowish. But its underside is pale in colour. Mostly wolf snakes have jet black eyeballs and have 10 to 20 bands of alternating white and yellow colour running through their body. Their underside is mostly pale but sometimes it’s milky white with no bands on the hind side and some of the other species of the different genus of wolf snake do not possess any stripes at all. Also, they have unique teeth patterns and thus have a litter border projected on part of their face, especially the jawline that appears as a square in shape. 

2. Scalation: The scales are divided in the proportion of 17:17:15 rows. There are almost 172 to 214 ventricles that the wolf snake possesses that are in lateral position and is strongly angulated. Their anal shield is divided and they have 57 to 80 pairs of subcaudals. They have a single loral that is well attached to the intranasal area but do not touch the eyes. All the species of the wolf snake usually have a single preocular, two postoculars and usually, there is a 2+2 format of the temporals with nine supralabial out of which only 3rd and the 5th are touching the eyes of the snake.

3. Wolf Snake Bite: There is no wolf snake venom as they are venomless in general but few of the species of wolf snake when a bite doesn’t induce the venom through their rare teeth but their rare fangs release venom that is not deadly but can be harmful to the humans and other animals. 

4. Behaviour and Human Interaction: The wolf snake species usually prefer to stay in solitude and does not prefer to come out in the morning, though they are very active at night. Thus they fall into the category of nocturnals. They are very fierce and tend to defend very aggressively. They usually spend most of their time searching for prey to feed on. The most common way for the snake to search for prey or to hide from predators is to burrow itself under the sand or mud. Alternatively, they also pretend to be affected to death to lure the prey towards itself naturally or to escape from a predators’ hunt. Unlike the other species of snake, the wolf snake prefers to feed on small mammals like rats and mice. The priority of their diet includes geckos, small frogs, lizards and skinks. As the prey they hunt for are easily available in the human dwellings, therefore, they are much attracted to the human habitat in search of their prey. The reptilian prey of the wolf snake, like insects, mostly congregate around bright lights of bulbs and fluorescent light, they prefer to stay hidden near the human habitats. Though they are very comfortable gliding on the ground they sometimes climb the trees and bushes either to hunt down prey or to escape from a predator. They are harmless to humans and are not domesticated. But as the wolf snakes have a tendency to dwell around the human habitations, thus most of the time they are prosecuted by the locals. The IUCN has listed them as the least concerned species but their heavy prosecution in certain areas have reduced their numbers to an alarming level.  

Habitat and Reproduction

Habitat

The wolf snakes have distributed throughout Southern Asia and various Pacific islands in the region that comprises many small islands that do not have any human habitation. as well as A very famous kind of wolf snake known as the cape wolf snake was first abundant in Egypt and was relocated to South Africa that is biologically termed Lycophidion Capense that are small, dab species that have a metallic shine on their overall body and they commonly feed on lizards. The different species of wolf snakes are found all around the globe but they are primarily the habitants of Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Southern China, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Philippines. They are also widespread in the islands of Indonesia such as Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi and in the lesser Sundas. They often like to take shelter in piles of stones, caves, empty old houses that are abundant for a long time, in wells and hollow trees. Their distribution is well recorded throughout India especially in the Chhattisgarh region where they are found maximum in the human habitats. Though they are very common in Lakshadweep Island but are not seen in Andaman and Nicobar Island. Some of the Indian wolf snakes are also found in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh that are the neighbouring countries of India and are therefore easy for them to migrate to the new lands.

Reproduction 

The females are a little larger in size and length than the male snakes and they are oviparous. Most of them are prolific breeders but many of them breed seasonally. They usually breed before the monsoon, from December to January in South India and from  March till July in Northern India. They lay a clutch of 3 to 10 eggs at a time and each egg is about an inch long in size. One of the major varieties of wolf snakes called the barred wolf snake has an incubation period of almost 50 to 60 days depending on the temperature as well as the geographical location where the eggs are laid. When the hatchlings are fully mature and are sufficient enough to move around by themselves only then the eggs crack up and are usually black and dazzling white bands on their body and about 6 inches in length. They immediately start hunting and preying for themselves and therefore do not require any parental care. Thus the female Wolf snake only stays near the eggs until they are hatched and cover them with her body to minimize the threat of being preyed on by other carnivorous counterparts.

Major Types of Wolf Snake 

1. Indian Wolf Snake

The biological name given to the Indian wolf snake is Lycodon Aulicus that are mostly found in South Asia and in Southeast Asia. They are a species of non-venomous snakes that are harmless to humans. As the wolf snakes grow up to structural resemblance with that of a venomous snake called common krait, they are often confused with the later species. The colouration of these snakes varies. They have a much flattened, depressed, long, elongated well as broad snout that is the projection area of the mouth with the swollen upper lip. They do not possess canthus rostralis. Their rostral shield is very low and broad in the structure that slightly bends backwards coming on the upper surface of the snout. For the adults as well as for the minors the anterior frontal is very small but in the adults, posterior frontals are longer than it is broader as compared to that of the younger ones. It has been seen that in between the anterior and the posterior frontals there lies a notch that is laterally positioned where the anterior angle of the loreal is received. Nostrils are small and directed upwards between the nasals the anterior of which are connected to the snout of the forehead. The Indian wolf snake has only a single loreal that is two times longer than it is broader. The most popular species of the Indian wolf snake called Ceylonese have much longer and elongated posterior frontals that are much longer than they are broader in all the age groups. The upper skin is white or covered in brown. The other varieties that are commonly found in south India have uniform brownish-grey colour throughout their body. Some of the other varieties have a similar base colour with 3 or 4 distant white strips with the collar around the neck is milky white in colour. 

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2. Barred Wolf Snake

The biological name given to the species is Lycodon Striatus that belongs to the family of Columbidae and of order Squamata and has a suborder category named serpents. They are also famously known as northern wolf snakes as they have a wide habitat in Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Iran, western Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In India it is commonly found in Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. They are usually of dark brown to grey in colour with milky white stripes that are either in form of transverse spots or crossbands that are running extensively but are separated widely in the anterior of the body. There is a presence of a black spot that is running alternatingly with the white cross bands and the side of the body has a stretch of the white band. Their snouts are flattened making the head look slightly different from the neck with the uniformly white colouration of the upper lips and the ventrum. In 1893, one of the longest barred wolf snakes was about 43 cm, that is 17 inches in total length with the tail length measured around 7.5 cm (3 inches) long.

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3. Cape Wolf Snake

The cape wolf snake is biologically known as Lycophidion Capense is a non-venomous snake that belongs to the family of Lamprophiidae that has an order Squamata and suborder as serpents. Their usual comfort habitat is fynbos, which is a kind of vegetation found only in southern Africa as the area is wet and damp. They are also found in the lowland forests and mostly feed on geckos and skinks. They are believed to have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. They are widely distributed to southern, central and East Africa and they are docile and harmless but are sometimes confused with the venomous species named stiletto snake. The average length of the adult snakes are 40 cm but some of them grow exceptionally up to 64 cm. They usually have a tapering head with a wide snout and marbled eyes. The lateral, as well as dorsal scales, have a brown or black base colour and the tips are white and the ventral scales are absolutely white in colour and are uniform in colouration. The upper and the lower jaws contain fangs that are long as well as recurved in shape for which they are famous.

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4. Lycodon Laoensis

They are commonly known as the Latoian wolf snake that belongs to the species of colubrid snakes and shares the family named colubridae and of order squamata. They are native to Asia and are mostly found in Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and west Malaysia. But lately they are also reported to be present in the Haripur district of Northern Pakistan. They are usually brown in colour with yellowish and white crossband spreading at the back of the head and then bifurcate to the side of the body, whereas the Ventrally is absolutely white in colour. The adults are of the size of 5 meters, that is their total length with 10 cm measured as their tail length. They are usually non aggressive in nature and tend to bite if it feels disturbed. They mostly bury themselves in soil during the morning time and actively search for prey at night.

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Conclusion

The wolf snake generally are the non venomous snakes that are not harmful to humans. However they do bite if they feel disturbed or threatened. The wolf snakes are widely divided into many species that fall under the snake family of Colubridae and is a genus of colubrid snake. They are non-venomous with large teeth present in both upper and lower jaws. They are commonly found in the lowlands forests like in both terrestrial and arboreal habitats. They also prefer to live in abandoned old houses or properties. They mostly feed on small mammals like mice and rats and their most preferred diet is geckoes, small frogs, lizards ect. As they are mostly found in the human habitat or at nearby places of a populated area, therefore, they are often found dwelling in such areas and are often executed in large numbers. They do have very long sharp pointed teeth on both the jaws and thus the name Wolf snakes. They mostly originated in Asia and are densely populated in Southern Asia. but many other species are also found throughout Asian countries including many parts of India. They have a wide range of colouration but the most common colour is brown to grey or blackish brown with white or yellowish crossbands, tapered head, projected mouth and black eyeballs. Sometimes few of the snake species also possess a white colour around their neck with their underparts being faded or whitish in appearance.