VINE SNAKE

any of several venomous (rear-fanged) members of the family Colubridae that are extremely slenderalmost stringlike. They blend into the foliage of trees, where they capture chameleons and other small vertebrates. A vine snake may be 1.5 m (5 feet) long but is so light that it can extend half of its body into midair when crossing from branch to branch. The African vine snake (Thelotornis kirtlandi) is greenish gray, with indistinct crossbands. It uses its black-tipped yellow or red tongue as a lure. People have died of its bite. The New World tropics has five species of Oxybelis. O. aeneus of Brazil to Mexico barely enters the United States, in Arizona. Vine snakes of Southeast Asia (genus Ahaetulla) are also called long-nosed tree snakes.