The rhinoceros ratsnake: a Vietnamese snake with a horn on its nose
The rhinoceros ratsnake is one of the strangest-looking snakes in Vietnam. It may look intimidating, but it is actually remarkably docile.
Few people know that Vietnam is home to a snake with a truly bizarre appearance: the rhinoceros ratsnake (known in Vietnamese as thanh xà kỳ lân, or "unicorn green snake"), scientific name Gonyosoma boulengeri. It also goes by other local names, including elephant-trunk snake, trunk snake and elephant snake.
A snake with an extraordinary look: the rhinoceros ratsnake.
The rhinoceros ratsnake is fairly slender, reaching a modest length of about 1–1.5 m. Its coloring is also distinctive. Juveniles are grey all over; as they mature, they turn green or a pale banana-leaf green, mostly without any additional patterning.
The species is easy to recognize by the sharp, rather menacing-looking horn on the tip of its snout. Unlike the horns of many other animals, this snake's horn is formed by elongated scales: it is a small, fleshy, scale-covered protrusion at the tip of the snout. Its main function is thought to be luring prey. When the snake drapes itself across high branches, the "horn" may act like a green caterpillar, enticing birds that come to hunt it and end up as the snake's meal.
The rhinoceros ratsnake is easily identified by its pointed horn.
Rhinoceros ratsnakes already have their horns when they hatch. However, the horn is quite soft and remains short while the snakes are young.
The rhinoceros ratsnake is non-venomous, harmless and mild-tempered. Its preferred prey are small vertebrates such as birds, rodents and frogs.
The species is found mainly in northern Vietnam, but a recent study of its southern range in the country found that the southernmost record comes from the forests of the Đèo Cả mountain range (in the former Phú Yên province, now part of Đắk Lắk), on the south-central coast.
The rhinoceros ratsnake is non-venomous and harmless.
The discovery surprised many scientists, because the new location lies some 600 km from earlier records in central Vietnam, such as in the former Quảng Bình province (now part of Quảng Trị).
In Vietnam, the rhinoceros ratsnake is also linked to a mysterious legend. For generations, people have passed down tales of a crested snake. This crested snake never bites people, yet everyone fears it because it is believed to be a sacred serpent that guards temples and shrines. The image of this crested snake may well have been inspired by the rhinoceros ratsnake.
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