A long, slim pit viper endemic to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, notorious for hunting in sugar cane fields and old stone walls.
Description
The habu is a slender pit viper averaging about 1.5 m, with a pale yellow-tan ground colour and a chain of olive blotches edged in black running down the back. The head is large and triangular, and the body and tail are long and strong, well suited to climbing.
Behavior
Habu are mostly nocturnal hunters that creep through stone walls, sugar cane fields, and old tombs in search of black rats. Their venom causes severe hemorrhagic damage and necrosis, and bites historically left thousands of Okinawan residents with permanent injuries before antivenom became common.
Range
Endemic to the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, particularly Amami and Okinawa. The species is the subject of an unusual control campaign that has at times released mongooses, with disastrous side effects for native wildlife.
Find more snakes by letter
Habu starts with H and ends with U. Browse other snakes along the same letter.
Snakes that contain a letter from "Habu":