Ptyas mucosus

Ptyas mucosa, commonly known as the oriental ratsnake, Indian rat snake, 'darash' or dhaman, ghora pachar( घोड़ा पछाड़)is a common species of colubrid snake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Dhamans are large snakes. Typical mature total length is around 1.5 to 1.95 m (4 ft 11 in to 6 ft 5 in) though specimens exceeding 2 m (6 ft 7 in) are often not uncommon. The record sized length for this species was recorded as 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in), second in size perhaps only to their cousin Ptyas carinata among all known living colubrid snakes. Despite their large size, oriental ratsnakes are usually quite slender with even a specimen of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) commonly measuring 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in) only around in diameter. Furthermore, the average weight of ratsnakes caught in Java was around 877 to 940 g (1.933 to 2.072 lb), though larger males of over 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) (which average mildly larger of the two sexes in the species) may easily weigh over 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). Their colour varies from pale browns in dry regions to nearly black in moist forest areas. Dhamans are diurnal, semi-arboreal, non-venomous, and fast-moving. Dhamans eat a variety of prey and are frequently found in urban areas where rodents thrive. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia,China (Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan, Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan), India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Bali), Iran, Laos, West Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan (Sindh area), Thailand, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Nepal Type locality: India. Adult dhamans have no natural predators other than the king cobras that overlap them in range. Juveniles fear birds of prey, larger reptiles, and mid-sized mammals. They are wary, quick to react, and fast-moving. Dhamans and related colubrids are aggressively hunted by humans in some areas of their range for skins and meat. Harvesting and trade regulations exist in China and Indonesia but these often go ignored. Description from Boulenger's Fauna of British India: Reptilia and Batrachia volume of 1890: