Mysterious snake with green fur discovered in Thailand

A snake with green fur was found floating in a swamp in Thailand, the locals had never seen it before.

The creature, about 60 centimetres long, appears to be covered in fur and was found in the province of Sakhon Nakhon last Saturday.

It was captured by 49-year-old Tu, who noticed it moving slowly in the dirty water near his home while he was out walking.

He then kept it in a jar and showed it to his family members, who were bewildered by the creature's dragon-like appearance.

"I've never seen a snake that looked like that before.

My family and I thought it would be useful to let people find out what it is and research it," said Tu's niece, Waraporn Panyasarn, 30.

She took a video of the animal and posted it online, asking experts to find out what the creature was.

The family kept the snake at home and fed it small fish until the authorities identified the animal.

What is this snake?

Some locals said that the furry reptile could be a water snake, whose body is covered with moss because it has stayed in the swamp for a long time to catch its prey in the calm, shallow water and in rocky crevices.

Sam Chatfield, who is snake species coordinator at the Wildlife ARC on the NSW Central Coast, said it did indeed look like a water snake called theHomalopsis buccata whose scales were covered with algae.

A water snake Homalopsis buccata from Borneo. Photo: Rob Steubing

"Scales are found on top of the skin and are mainly composed of keratin.

It's like there's a layer on top of the skin and when it moults it sheds the outside of those scales," said Sam Chatfield, snake species co-ordinator at the Wildlife ARC on the NSW Central Coast.

"The next time it moults, the algae layer will come off.

Ms Chatfield said she could already see that the reptile had rubbed the scales on the front of her face to get a better look.

Slightly venomous water snakes are usually dark brown to black in colour.

Their distinctive feature is the pattern on the top of their head.

Different variants of this species are found in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Source: Yahoo