While hiking through the lowlands of Bolivia, one hiker stumbled upon something startling. A 4-foot snake was hiding in plain sight along the trail. It was during this expedition that the hiker/wildlife guide accidentally killed the snake. After its unfortunate demise, the hiker noticed that the snake turned out to be something even more surprising.
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Bolivian Hiker Killed A Snake With A Surprising Twist
The Miami Herald shared details of the encounter. A team of scientists was exploring the lowlands of Bolivia in La Paz. During this expedition, the team was looking for “two notoriously elusive reptile groups: vine snakes (Oxybelis) and sharpnose snakes (Xenoxybelis).”
These two snake types are masters at hiding and disguising. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that the hiker and wildlife guide accidentally killed a snake while clearing the path. The outlet shared that the guide had “accidentally severed” a four-foot-long vine snake in half. The snake had been resting on a shrub, completely motionless.
While the adaptation of remaining motionless typically allows them to escape predators undetected, that lack of detection is exactly what made this snake meet its untimely end.
A Surprise Is Revealed
At first, the scientists were just sad about the accidental killing. However, after further inspection, they noticed something astonishing. The deceased snake was neither of the two previously thought species. Instead, it was “Bolivia’s first documented record of an Oxybelis inkaterra, commonly known as an Inkaterra vine snake.”
The reason this finding was so thrilling is that this snake was previously only spotted in Peru and Ecuador. Seeing it in Bolivia for the first time dramatically changes what scientists know about this snake and its range.
