Brahminy Blind Snake

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Brahminy Blind Snake wrapped around my finger in Manila

When we think about snakes, many people think big and scary. But some snakes are very, very little and not the least bit frightening at all.

Brahminy Blind Snake Indotyphlops braminus kolkata india
Brahminy Blind Snake in Kolkata

The Brahminy Blind Snake looks more like a worm than a snake. It is only a few centimeters long and has a head so narrow it might be hard to tell which end is which! But look close, and you’ll see the little scales and the tiny eyes and mouth that let you know that it’s a snake you’re looking at.

Brahminy Blind Snake Indotyphlops braminus manila philippines
Brahminy Blind Snake in Bangkok, Thailand

It is thought that those little eyes can only tell the difference between light and dark. The Brahminy Blind Snake doesn’t need to see because it spends almost all of its life underground, burrowing through the soil looking for ant and termite nests so it can eat the eggs and larvae inside.

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Green Crested Lizard

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Green Crested Lizard - Bronchocela cristatella laguna philippines near manila
Male Green Crested Lizard on branch at night at the Rizal ReCreation Center

One of the neatest lizards at Lilok Farm is one of the most difficult to find. Way up in the treetops, crawling around branches with a body as green as the leaves, is the Green Crested Lizard.

The beautiful color of this lizard is what we call “camouflage”. Camouflage is any coloration that makes it more difficult for the animal to be seen – in this case, by blending into its forest environment.

These lizards are active during the day, but their home high in the trees and the well-camouflaged green body make them so difficult to find in the daytime. Instead, I tend to see them at night, when they come down a little lower to sleep and their bodies light up in the beam of the flashlight.

  • Rizal Re-creation Center
  • Rizal Re-creation Center
  • Male Green Crested Lizard at the Rizal Re-creation Center

One neat thing about Green Crested Lizards is that despite their name, they’re not always green. When stressed or threatened, they will change color to a dark brown!

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Common Sun Skink (bubuli)

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Common sun skink many-lined mabuya Eutropis multifasciata at tanay, rizal, philippines
A Common Sun Skink spotted near Lilok Farm

If you walk around Lilok Farm in the daytime, the first reptile you see will be a sun skink, or “bubuli” in Filipino (this name is often used for other lizards as well).

These smooth thick lizards can be found sitting on logs and foraging about in the leaf litter in any sunny spot. Unlike many skinks that spend their time underground, the sun skinks love basking in the heat of the day.

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Red-crested Malkoha

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I think I heard a bird? Where is it? Wait, there it is! No, where did it go? I see it again – it’s so pretty! It’s gone!

The Red-crested Malkoha is often seen around Sakahang Lilok. It is big and beautiful, around 40cm long and colored in red and white. Yet it is so sneaky that you rarely get a clear shot at it. If you do, you’ll be amazed.

Red-crested Malkoha Dasylophus superciliosus pauline carmel joy eje tanay epic
A Red-crested Malkoha spotted in Tanay by Pauline Carmel Joy Eje

Of course, such a clear sight is uncommon. I have seen the Red-crested Malkoha several times at Lilok, but only when it was flitting through the understory or flying away. It prefers to stay hidden among the branches, hunting for the big insects that make up most of its diet. If you do get a glance at it, you might not even see the whole bird.

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Cane Toad (palakang-tubó)

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Cane Toad at Rizal Recreation Center Rhinella marina philippines manila
Cane Toad at Rizal Recreation Center

They’re big. They’re bumpy. They run into your feet in the night.

Everyone has seen the huge tubó hopping around Sakahang Lilok and throughout Manila. But you might not know that these toads aren’t from the Philippines! How did they get here, and what are they doing?

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