| 1 | Corn snake |
Maximum length: 182.9cm.
The most popular captive pet snake worldwide, but also a common species in the eastern USA, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas alike. Wild corn snakes are easily recognisable by their orange-yellow alternating markings.
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 directly out of their nests. To accomplish this, the corn snake has a specially modified body to allow effortless climbing of trees. 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 ice.
When descending a tree, corn snakes always move down a tree trunk carefully rather than leaping casually to the Earth, as they’re not feather light like some of the tiniest snakes. They’re epic climbers but not quite immune to the forces of gravity.
| 2 | Chilean green snake |
Maximum length: 220cm.
One of 7 snake species native to Chile, and easily the most common. The Chilean green racer (Philodryas chamissonis) is a fast and whippy snake with a strong tendency to invade people’s houses.
This snake is great at climbing trees for the simple reason that it can do almost anything. Chilean green racers have only a weak venom, but are 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 Chilean green racer 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.
Chilean green racers are also common on the ground, and are a regular sight in populous towns of Chile. They’re incapable of causing death, but can’t stand it when humans get in their way, and rapidly turn vicious.
| 3 | Grey ratsnake |
Maximum length: 214.0cm.
Have you ever been exploring a US woodland, looked up and seen the exact sight in the image above? It was almost certainly a Pantherophis ratsnake member, as these are easily the best tree climbers the US has to offer.
Grey ratsnakes (Pantherophis spiloides) live in states immediately east of the Mississippi river, whereas eastern ratsnakes (Pantheraophis alleghanesis) take over along the east coast. Both species are top bird’s nest raiders, feeding on the likes of northern mockingbirds, house finches, blue jays, and red junglefowl. Scents lure them on to these species, and most likely retained knowledge of trees where birds have previously constructed nests.
To grab these, the grey ratsnake must learn the fine art of slithering up a tree trunk vertically with no comfortable ledges, and that’s what they’ve done. Over millions of years, an initial taste for birds has pushed them ever further down the effortless tree climbing route, sharpening their skills, to the point where their tree-climbing skills outstrip the local rattlesnakes 100-fold.
If a young grey ratsnake wanted to escape an eastern indigo snake (a top snake predator), all it would have to do is slither upwards, leaving the flummoxed indigo snake stuck at the bottom.
| 4 | Trinket snake |
Maximum length: 168cm.
The trinket snake (Coelognathus helena) is a non-venomous species inhabiting the vast majority of India, as well as Sri Lanka and Nepal. This species relies on constriction and grappling for its hunting techniques, but nevertheless has an aggressive personality, so aggressive that it can scare off an Indian cobra.
Compared to most of this list, the trinket snake isn’t a tree snake whatsoever. It spends more of its time in the ground, but instead, the trinket snake is an effortless tree climber by default, simply because they’re so agile and nimble. Trinket snakes can slither up sheer vertical tree branches without any supporting branches. They have an innate sense of the grooves and hollows in the bark that allow them to move upwards without plummeting back down to their doom.
Their exact purpose is unknown, as despite being very widespread, the trinket snake has a poorly researched diet. They accept plenty of rodents in captivity, and birds are known as meals. It’s possible that one day, they’ll be revealed to be a top predator of birds’ nests, stealing either nestlings or eggs, similarly to the ratsnakes or corn snake of the USA.
| 5 | White-lipped pitviper |
Maximum length: 104cm.
According to one study, white-lipped pitvipers cause 95% of venomous snakebites in Hong Kong, and they similarly dominate the statistics for Bangkok. This is a widespread species of southeast Asia which is found in every corner of Thailand, and is the most common of the 40-member Trimeresurus green pitviper clan.
White-lipped pitvipers are a completely arboreal snake – they spend virtually all their lives on trees or in bushes. While they can ascend higher, branches 1-3 metres high are their favourite position, explaining why bites to the arms and chest are more common than legs.
It’s no good dedicating yourself to life on branches if you can’t even climb trees. All the other pitvipers would be laughing at you as you stumble and slide back down again, but Trimereus albolabris ascends tree branches effortlessly. It wraps around them to seal its position with a couple of coils, which it performs instinctively. This species appears in forests, but is just as common in towns and suburbs, including Thai people’s backgardens (be careful).
| 6 | Central American tree snake |
Maximum length: 93cm.
This Honduran snake requires only the flimsiest of branches to soar metres into the air. The Central American tree snake (Imantodes gemmistratus) is a thin-bodied constrictor which poses little threat to humans. This species is found from northern Mexico through the whole of Central America, to its final stopping point in Columbia.
Across that territory, Imantodes gemmistratus is one of the most consistent tree-dwelling (arboreal) snakes. Their hunting strategy is heavily reliant on vision, using their large, bulbous eyes to spot the slightest flicker of movement on distant branches, which are actually anoles or skinks dashing past. Then they have to plot a course through the complex maze of the canopies to reach that branch, without the small reptile realising.
To achieve these goals, they have to reach the higher branches in the first place. Imantodes gemmistratus slithers up tree trunks vertically with seemingly no effort at all. They sometimes charge up trees so fast it’s like they’re escaping the jaws of a crocodile. This species belongs to the 7-member Imantodes clan, which also includes the incredibly widespread blunt-headed tree snake (Imantodes cenchoa).
| 7 | Southern twig snake |
Maximum length: 186cm.
One of the ultimate snakes when it comes to mimicking a tree branch and achieving impenetrable camouflage. The southern twig snake (Thelotornis capensis) inhabits southeastern Africa, including eastern South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, reaching as far north as Tanzania. Thelotornis capensis is moderately venomous, with one 6 year old boy suffering from nausea and totally uncoagulable blood that led to prolonged bleeding (he survived).
Another of their skills is effortless tree climbing. Trees and bushes are the main sanctuary of this 80-120cm snake, and consequently, they’re able to ascend them extremely rapidly, disappearing into their sanctuary in the nick of time.
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 fully optimised for tree climbing – their only potential foil is being struck by lightning halfway up. This species is a reptile-hunter which is most active during daytime, and belongs to the 4-member Thelotornis genus.
| 8 | Paradise flying snake |
Maximum length: 150cm.
This arboreal species measures 90cm and mainly inhabits southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This is a mildly venomous species, which preys primarily on lizards and geckos. While the paradise flying snake is unable to drive a car, or run a multi-national corporation, they have several advantages over humans: 1) the ability to glide nearly 100 metres after leaping from a tree, and 2) the ability to climb near vertical tree trunks.
With the paradise flying snake, ascending inaccessible tree trunks is essential for their very survival, as it allows them to reach higher positions to leap from when ambushing their prey. They hunt geckos by spotting them on distant tree branches, reaching the closest point they can, then making the fateful gliding leap.
Paradise flying snakes become airborne by morphing their body shape, elongating themselves sideways to create an air pocket underneath. They have a thin body, allowing them to reach 15-20 metres high up trees without snapping delicate branches. This species is actually a superior flier to the more famous golden flying snake, which is most common in central Thailand.
| 9 | Central American eyelash viper |
Maximum length: 91.6cm.
Not the fastest tree climber, but one which grinds steadily upwards without an ounce of fear. This pitviper lives in 6 out of 7 Central American countries, the exception being El Salvador, and spends 60-70% of its time in trees.
The Central American eyelash viper 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.
Central American eyelash vipers 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 attacks humans sometimes, but bites aren’t a total epidemic like with the fer-de-lance. As they rest on branches virtually all day, bites that do happen tend to strike the chest and arms.
The eyelash viper has endless morphs, often appearing in banana plantations in a completely yellow form. Others like above are green-mossy, and blend perfectly with rainforest tree trunks.
| 10 | Common bronzeback (India) |
Maximum length: 169cm.
A completely harmless species of India, which often exceeds 1.5 metres, but climbs trees effortlessly due to its thin body. Common bronzebacks live in fully-fledged forests, but also appear along forest edges, and isolated tree clumps near villages. They lack even a mild venom, and stay balanced by curling their body securely around the branch.
This species lives across virtually of India, except the dry northwest, and they’re also found in most of Sri Lanka and Nepal. Though they lack venom and are vulnerable to birds, they’re excellent at slithering directly up trees, bypassing gravity. Common bronzebacks can also ignore the trunk altogether, and zip right up thin, spidery branches stroking the ground.
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. Luckily, the same isn’t true for this harmless Indian creature.