A golden mtoto African house snake (Lamprophis fulginosus) rears up in defense, curling up into a cute ball of fury just 6 cm in diameter. In contrast to a few other house snakes I’ve found, this neonate was very light in color, almost golden on the upper half of the body, fading into a darker shade on the lower half. The V-shaped white stripes on the head were especially prominent as well. Though house snakes are usually reluctant to defend themselves, this little one was all fired up after a brief rain, probably desperate for me to leave so it could resume its hunt for frogs and lizards.
Photographed after disturbance [4]