Banded krait

Scientific Name: Bungarus fasciatus

Nick Name:

Size: 

Appearance: Medium-sized to large; smooth, shiny scales: wide bright yellow and black bands on back. It  is easily identified by its alternate black and yellow bands.

   The Banded Krait is a large, conspicuous yellow and black banded snake with a prominent backbone, blunt tail and rounded head slightly distinct from the body. The bands are faded on the underside.

Type of Venom: Its venom is a powerful neurotoxin that causes respiratory failure.

Nature: It is active at night and relatively passive during the day. Though very poisonous it is a shy snake, difficult to sight, mainly nocturnal in feeding habit. Snake handlers mention that, except at night, they are the easiest of the venomous snakes to handle.

Distribution: Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and reported in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Found upto 1500 m above sea level.

     Apart from India, it is found in the South Asia through Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and southern China to Malaysia and the main Indonesian islands of Borneo, Java and Sumatra and Singapore.

Habitat: They may be seen in a variety of habitats ranging from forests to agricultural lands. They inhabit termite mounds and rodent holes close to water, and often live near human settlement especially villages because of their supply of rodents and water. They prefer the open plains of the countryside.

Feeds on: rats and mice and are found in rat holes and termite mounds. They also prey on lizards and smaller snakes.

Side Line:

• Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", features the banded krait snake as the killer, albeit trained by a doctor to kill his step daughter so that he will inherit her money. Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery of the murder of a woman and prevents the murder of her sister. This snake leaves very small puncture wound marks. It is also difficult to detect the venom in the blood especially since it is not common for a person to die of this snake's bite, and because this snake is not found in UK.