Viral photos of mid-air reptile in Gujarat probably not flying snake (With video)

Sujay Ghosh, July 23, 2015, New Delhi, NewsCrunch

A series of photos taken at Morbi, Gujarat, which reportedly captured a snake flying have gone viral. 

Many reports have identified the mid air spectacle as a “flying snake”.

Even if it can be assumed that the photos are authentic, we can safely rule out that what we are seeing is a flying snake.

Chrysopelea, or flying snakes have evolved to climb trees and launch themselves as projectiles. As the video below shows they can angle their long body to glide down even choosing a flight path.

The animal in the viral photos is unlikely to be a flying snake (video below)

They are common in South-east Asia and in the Indian sub-continent at Sri Lanka, Western Ghats, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and North-east states.

Though Gujarat is not part of their habitat, flying snakes are known to migrate. Sri Lankan snakes have been sighted as far as Andhra Pradesh's Seshachalam forests

But there is no record of any snake being sighted in Gujaratso far. Also the height at which the snake is flying in the photos rules out a Chrysopelea specimen.

The animal in the viral photos is unlikely  to be a flying snake (video below)

What seems to have happened is - a snake picked by a hawk or any other predator bird must have escaped the claws and fallen off, creating the sensational spectacle.

A National Geographic video of a Flying Snake