ahmedabad it could be sheer coincidence or a growing trend but snake rescuers are reporting more and more uncommon snake species in urban areas that are not natural habitats for them while experts believe these are oneoff cases some rescuers believe this is a growing trend where these species have adapted to environschandresh lodhiya managing director of anala outdoors and a citybased snake rescuer said he came upon a rare painted bronzeback tree snake near shivalik bungalows in prahladnagar last month the snake was 42 inches long and healthy it is a diurnal active during the day and arboreal living in trees snake and is generally found in the northeastern part of the country in states like west bengal and arunachal pradesh it is a very agile snake which jumps from branch to branch and feeds on lizards frogs and small snakes its presence in the city came as a surprise for us said lodhiya the snake rescue committee of ahmedabad also had a few surprises rishit shroff a citybased architect and snake rescuer told toi that the groups members stumbled on species such as glossybellied racer snake leithis sand snake and russels kukri snake in parts of ahmedabad and gandhinagar generally we find around 10 to 13 species of snakes including cobra rat snake krait and checkered keelback in and around the city especially in developing areas around sg road the uncommon snakes have been spotted recently it remains to be seen if they accidentally landed up in the city or were found earlier but were not reported he said he rescued a russels kukri snake on the outskirts of gandhinagar experts added that there is little difference between the common bronzeback and the painted bronzeback snakes and it is possible that the snakes may have been here but were never differentiated as a species mukesh bhati a wildlife enthusiast seconds the opinion habitat is of prime importance for all animal species and it applies to snakes as well all the species acclimatize to their surroundings to find prey and even govern their own habits it has been seen earlier that many species of snakes from farflung places are transferred across india in vehicles such as trucks a single snake however doesnt survive for long it is interesting to see if these uncommon species breed and make the city their home he said this phenomenon is somewhat true for the entire state as well experts however discount such sightings as oneoff and believe that species from outside cannot make their base ajay desai a herpetologist and author of a book on the snakes in gujarat told toi that he has heard instances of snakes such as the indian eggeating snake of north india and sindh krait being found in kutch this needs closer scrutiny by naturalists and snake catchers to ascertain from where the snakes have come and whether they have survived here one or two sightings are not enough to prove that the snakes are regular in the