Hiker surprised by species ID after sharing photo of 'scary snake'

What began as an alarming snake sighting on a hike in Vietnam ended up becoming an online lesson in wildlife identification.

A June 12 post to the snake identification forum on Reddit,  r/whatsthissnake, quickly garnered attention and collected more than 2,300 upvotes and nearly 100 comments.

What happened?

In the Reddit post, a hiker shared a photograph of a black snake with brightly patterned markings from a trail, aiming to identify it, and wrote, "Came across this scary snake while hiking Vietnam." 

Almost immediately, responses flooded in from Reddit's snake-identification community. The top reply, now with more than 1,100 upvotes, identified it as "Oligodon lacroixi," commonly called "Lacroix's kukri snake."

Many pointed out that despite its dramatic appearance, it is a non-venomous species.

Another commenter added that "somehow, this sub continues to give me a growing appreciation for snakes. From a distance, I get to see some incredible specimens from across the globe and learn about their unique behaviors and diverse patterns. Scrolling past this snake pic would've made me jump a year ago, and now I'm mesmerized."

One Redditor joked, "My husband is incredibly lucky that these snakes aren't pet snakes, because if they were, I'd have one. I don't know if he'd ever get over his aversion but how could he not fall in love with one of these precious beauties."

Why does it matter?

When people mistake a harmless snake for a dangerous one, panic can lead to the unnecessary killing of wildlife. A quick, accurate identification can replace fear with context, which is better for both people and animals.

This encounter happened while someone was hiking, a reminder that many wildlife run-ins are at least partly driven by human movement through animal habitat. 

As trails, tourism, and development push people deeper into wild areas, surprise encounters can become more common, even with species that would normally avoid humans.

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