These are Snakes Which Can Fly

The flying snakes are to be found in South and Southeast Asia. They belong to the group of tree snakes. Five species of flying snakes are known. They rarely descend to the ground. Their lengths range from 60cms to 1.2 meters. Their diets include lizards, rodents, frogs, bats and birds. They are active during the day, and are oviparous, laying six to ten eggs.

                                                     Ornate flying snake  (  from Wikipedia  )

                                                                 From freesnake.com

The most interesting aspect of these snakes is their ability to ‘fly’. The term flying is really a misnomer. They cannot move upwards. They can only glide. They may indulge in ‘flying’ to escape from a predator or to catch a prey. This snake lifts the body up from the end of a tree branch, flattens its body by sucking in the stomach and propels itself outward. The flat body and the wave like motion it makes while in air makes it possible to glide until it reaches the destination, which is another branch in the same tree or another tree. In essence, the flattened body of the snake becomes a wing and can land on a destination which can be 60-100 meters away. Defense establishments are carrying out research about the phenomenal ability of these snakes to glide at will. These snakes are only mildly venomous and the fangs are fixed and tiny.