| 1 | Southern twig snake |
The southern twig snake (Thelotornis capensis) can disappear up a tree so fast it’s like they’ve teleported. This species lives in southern Africa (Botswana, Zimbabwe) and is parched and brown so that nobody notices them. For this to work though, they have to actually be in a tree. In the grassy field nearby, they’re badly exposed, and a cunning bird might cock its head from afar.
Trees and bushes are the main sanctuary of this 80-120cm, dangerously venomous snake, and consequently, they’re able to ascend them extremely rapidly, disappearing into sanctuary in the nick of time. The southern twig snake rarely bites humans unless provoked, but has sent a few victims to hospital. They have an intimidating glare, combining with their sharply keeled scales to heighten the menace. This is a reptile-hunter which is most active during daytime, and belongs to the 4-member Thelotornis family.
The southern twig snake can ascend a tree trunk vertically, and loses no speed. They don’t stop to consider, they just keep going. The reason is that they don’t have to. The southern twig snake is fully built and optimised for tree climbing – their only foiled is being struck by lightning halfway up.
| 2 | Mexican parrot snake |
Many snakes can ascend trees if they concentrate, keeping their slithering movements precise and careful, but the Mexican parrot snake ascends trees so effortlessly it’s like they don’t realise they’re there. This is a species of Guatemala, which darts harmlessly around the heads of hikers. The Mexican parrot snake splits its time between trees and the ground, and is a mildly venomous lizard hunter which sticks to forests and forest edges.
From what’s known, their main skills are being extremely agile in trees, and identifying even the slightest flicker of an anole (such as bighead anoles) dashing past. This species would die in a desert, but can approach a tree and slither up its trunk without stopping. They’re equally skilful at crossing overlapping branches, granting them access to new areas of the canopy.
Mexican parrot snakes lose none of their tree-climbing skills with age. Burmese pythons, for example, will ascend to 1-2 metres as younglings, but do so far less commonly in adulthood as their bulk mounts. Meanwhile, the parrot snake stays light and nimble its entire life. Parrot snakes are a virtually harmless part of El Salvador and Guatemala’s snake fauna.
| 3 | Tiger ratsnake |
This snake is great at climbing trees for the simple reason that it can do almost anything. Tiger ratsnakes lack venom, but are fast-moving, agile, can poke their heads into burrows, swallow rats within minutes, and enjoy midnight serenades on rooftops. Trees are just another obstacle, which they brush aside in their endless quest for food and mates. The tiger ratsnake has a taste for bird eggs, and trees are the place to get them. They also zip up trees for strategic reasons that aren’t fully researched – it’s possible that they simply like flexing their skills.
A large portion of photos are of this species slithering along a branch and looking confident. Tiger ratsnakes are also common on the ground and are a common species near human residences in central America. They’re not venomous, but can’t stand it when humans get in their way, and rapidly turn vicious. Tiger ratsnakes will slither up a tree without hesitation, with no concern over the consequences if they fall out at an unfortunate angle.
| 4 | Elegant bronzeback |
Snakes of the effortless tree climbing crew can be short or long, with the tiger ratsnake reaching 2 metres. Length matters little. The main quality is a thin body relative to that length. The elegant bronzeback, for example, reaches lengths of 60-100cm, yet is barely wider than a hosepipe. This species lives in southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, and though they lack venom and are vulnerable to birds, they’re excellent at slithering directly up trees, bypassing gravity. Elegant bronzebacks can ignore the trunk altogether and zip right up thin, spidery branches stroking the ground.
Elegant bronzebacks live in thick forests, but also stray to the forest edges. They lack even a mild venom, and stay balanced by curling their body securely around the branch. Their eyes are particularly mesmerizing, bright green with a horizontal black stripe.
Some thick-bodied snakes climb trees, but only very tentatively, and to the lowest branches. If a blood python climbed 5 metres high, the branch would snap, sending it plummeting to the Earth with only seconds to think its last thoughts.
| 5 | Guatemalan palm pitviper |
Not the fastest tree climber, but one which grinds steadily upwards with not an ounce of fear. This snake lives only in Mexico and its namesake country, and spends 60-70% of its time in trees. The Guatemalan palm pitviper is highly venomous and relies on ambush tactics, clinging menacingly to branches for hours. They’re spotted most commonly in national parks, on the edges of popular trails, with large populations lurking deeper in the forests that nobody ever sees.
Guatemalan palm pitvipers are cautious and slow, choosing the optimal tree, slithering up and beginning a long watch. Being a great tree climber is out of necessity, as their entire strategy would be defeated otherwise.
This species rarely attacks humans due to their remote locations, and not being too common; they’re restricted to a single narrow mountain range, which crosses the Mexican-Guatemalan border. Their venom is barely researched and a 2020 IUCN report deemed them to be “vulnerable” to extinction. Guatemalan palm pitvipers can slither up a trunk coated with bark with ease. It’s not an obstacle worth considering. Their body is relatively thick, but being just 60-80cm, they add relatively little weight.
| 6 | Central American tree snake |
This Honduran snake requires the flimsiest of branches to soar metres into the air. The Central American tree snake (Imantodes gemmistratus) is a constrictor which primarily hunts reptiles, particularly Anolis lizards. This hunting takes place in a maze of overlapping leaves, swaying branches and hidden wooden cracks.
Imantodes gemmistratus is active during the day, and relies on eyesight for hunting, spotting anoles or skinks on a distant branch, before plotting a course to get there. To achieve this, they have to reach the higher branches in the first place. Imantodes gemmistratus charge up trees as though they’re escaping the jaws of a crocodile. In reality, this is their natural moving speed, and a 5 metre high tree is the flimsiest possible barrier.
Millions of years have passed where this species has been ever moulded by the forest, to cross between trees, to blend into trees, and finally, to effortlessly climb them. This is part of the 7-member Imantodes family, another member being the blunt-headed tree snake, famous for its huge eyes.
| 7 | Corn snake |
The corn snake has a specially modified body to allow effortless climbing of trees. This species is the world’s most common captive snake, but still lives naturally in the US east. Rather than a rounded belly, a corn snake’s is flat on the bottom, and its chequered belly scales are sharply angled/keeled. This allows them to dig into soft bark on tree trunks like a mountaineer’s crampons dig into snow.
Though corn snakes are primarily ground-dwelling, branches 3-5 metres high are easily within their reach. The main temptation that draws them skyward is food, as corn snakes love to steal bird chicks out of their nests. Corn snakes always descend a tree’s trunk rather than leaping casually to the Earth, as they’re not feather light like some of our list entrants.
Corn snakes naturally live in woodlands and mixed grassy areas with bushes and thickets. They also appear at the edges of buildings or below piles of garbage. They’re an intelligent snake which becomes more adept at escaping a water maze the second time they’re placed in it.
| 8 | Western mangrove catsnake |
The mangrove catsnake lives in peninsular Malaysia, where it lives side by side with the blood python. The latter lives only in 2d – it can go forward, left or right, but never up. The mangrove catsnake lives in a 3d world, being such an effortless climber that it can ascend trees whenever it wants.
This is a mildly venomous snake which can unleash stinging and swelling in humans, which particularly loves branches overhanging water bodies. Mangrove catsnakes will dive off those branches into the water when scared, but first, they have to climb up. They’re part of the 38-number Boiga catsnake family, also including the green catsnake. Most of these are great tree climbers, and the mangrove catsnake is so skilful that it hasn’t occurred to them that climbing trees could ever be difficult.
Mangrove catsnakes can reach 2 metres, and have a thin body that allows them to curl around branches like spaghetti. The mangrove catsnake is comfortable moving completely vertically or ascending low branches like a step ladder. This species is particularly common in Singapore.
| 9 | Aesculapian snake |
Perhaps Italy’s main tree-loving snake, which reaches a maximum of 2 metres (excluding real mutants). Aesculapian snakes prey on bank voles and black rats, and inhabit forests both dark and sparse. They’re a species surrounded by folklore, with the god of healing Asclepius supposedly building temples where they slithered around freely.
While sea snakes are completely fluent in the water, the Aesculapian snake is perfectly fluent in the trees. They ascend trees with ease, whether it’s in a forest or an isolated clump. Part of this is experience, but most of it is instinct developed over millions of years. Aesculapian snakes are a harmless constrictor, which lacks venom completely. Nobody has died at their hand in recorded history.
This species normally stays calm when humans approach, and never moves too fast. They look calm the majority of the time, as though they realise that their tree-climbing skills give them an inherent advantage which nobody can take away. Aesculapian snakes are much more at home in trees than humans can hope to be, except maybe when it comes to cutting them down.
| 10 | Common green racer |
This 100cm species lives near the anaconda, but lives the opposite life. While the latter is bulky and cumbersome, the common green racer (Chlorosoma viridissimum) nimbly ascends branches with the agility of an acrobat. This species live in forests and their outskirts, sometimes scaring people by hissing from trees. It’s unknown whether this snake is dangerous; a woman bitten in a pet shop apparently suffered a deformed arm, but a man bitten in 2006 experienced no symptoms.
This species takes mere minutes to climb a gnarly, warty rainforest tree. Being fully vertical on a trunk doesn’t bother them. Once perched on a branch, the common green racer will scan nearby trees for prey as well as the skies and ground for predators. This extremely green species has strong camouflage, and a large range including Brazil, Paraguay, Columbia and French Guiana.
Common green racers have the usual features for climbing trees, such as a thin body which minimises the weight at any given point. This snake isn’t well researched, so it’s unknown precisely how high they reach, whether towering at 20 metres or preferring 1-3 metre perches.