Although terrestrial, the butterfly viper uses its partially prehensile tail to climb into trees and thickets in search of food and has been found up to 3 m. above ground.
Although mainly terrestrial, the butterfly viper has been known to climb into trees and thickets in search of food. They have been found up to 3 meters, or 9.8 feet, above the ground.
This climbing behavior is aided by a partially prehensile tail. Holding a butterfly viper by the tail is not safe as it can use it to fling itself upwards and strike.
• Image | © Terese Hart, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
• Sources | (Mallow, Ludwig, & Nilson, 2003; Rogers, 2000; Spawls, Howell, Drewes, & Ashe, 2004; The Wikimedia Foundation, 2018)
