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🐍 Cat-eyed Snake (Northern Cat-eyed Snake) (*Leptodeira septentrionalis*)

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🔤 Name English / nombre español / Name Deutsch

Cat-eyed Snake (Northern Cat-eyed Snake) / Culebra ojo de gato (del norte) / Katzenaugennatter (nördlich)

🌿 Habitat & Ecology

Local distribution & habitat

Nocturnal; often near streams, ponds, and trails, especially common during the rainy season.

Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) coiled among leaves and plants on the ground at night, showing its brown saddle blotches.
Diet & ecological role

Feeds mainly on amphibians (frogs, tadpoles, eggs); helps regulate local frog populations.

Behavior

Shy, usually flees when disturbed; can flatten head and body as a defensive display. Biting is uncommon.

⚠️ Risk & safety

Risk Level

Venomous Nonlethal

Risk Level Notes

Do not handle; if bitten, clean wound, apply cold compress, observe for local swelling or allergic reaction. Severe effects are rare.

📍📈 Local frequency

rare

📖✨ Stories

In front of the guesthouse, where we had already encountered a Boa, a true Coral Snake, a false Coral Snake, and an Oxybelis koehleri, we once observed a small bundle of Cat-eyed Snakes. There seemed to be three or four individuals together.

🎬 Related Media

Will be added if we are lucky enough to film an encounter.

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