The Uralian Banded Snake has been spotted in more places, including the mysterious and beautiful Kristel Kaos.  While the giants do not permit Snapshotting in Kristel Kaos, we recommend paying a visit and trying to find the little cutie for yourself.

Sharp-eyed Uralian wildlife enthusiast Zurin submitted this guest photo of the snake in Ilmenskie, near one of the region’s famous (and absolutely adorable) Uralian burrowing owls:

But there is an even bigger discovery! Keen-eyed (and absolutely adorable!) fashion maven DTC of The SartUrialist managed to spot one of these little beauties in the act of feeding! DTC is a naturalist of sorts, specializing in the body-covering habits of Glitchen, so it would be only natural for him to spot wildlife doing wild things!

What DTC learned is that the Uralian Banded Snake is a milk snake–they actually gently lure butterflies in with a coy little tail wiggle, give them an all-over expert butterfly massage (snakes are very good at massage), then deftly coax a bit of milk from the little creatures.  Afterwards, they share one of the bottles with a nearby owl in exchange for the owl serenading the butterfly to extend its life.

DTC showed his expert skills in field observation by getting a rather excellent sketch of the snake feeding:

Sketch is copyright DTC, and he is to be commended for his observation skills and artistic abilities! 

Thanks to both Zurin and DTC for their work in observing and reporting on Uralian wildlife!

Note: to see the biggest concentration of Uralian banded snakes, you’ll need Eyeballery. Go to Eastern Approach and scan along the bottom. The author counted eleven snakes, but is happy to accept a correction on that number!