BBC Travel - On the scent of a serpent

In a few silent seconds, the two men had compared the width of the snake’s body with the faint signs of the belly scales and realised that the scales were too long to belong to a python.

The real surprise, though, was that Masi and Vadivel had seen neither the pythons nor the rattlesnakes of the Everglades before.

They are members of the Irula tribe who are found predominantly in the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and are known for their impressive understanding of snakes.