The snake in this design is a rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis), another one of my favorite species. They live in forests of the African interior and are close kin to the gaboon viper, which has the longest fangs relative to it's body size of any snake in the world. This brightly colored species is highly venomous (which not all snakes are) and they spend most of their time sitting motionless waiting for prey to wander by and then strike from ambush. Their tail is somewhat prehensile to aid in climbing and, like our own copperhead, they can double back on their body and strike upward at someone holding their tail. Unlike the American pitvipers, old world vipers do not have 'pit organs' that detect the body heat of their prey. All that said, rhinoceros vipers are mellow in disposition and strike at humans only when they feel threatened.
