Tiger snake of distinct populations, which may be isolated or overlapping, with extreme variance in size and colour. Individuals also show seasonal variation in colour. The total length is typically about 1.2 metres The patterning is darker bands, strongly contrasting or indistinct, which are pale to very dark in colour. Colouration is composed of olive, yellow, orange-brown, or jet-black, and the underside of the snake is light yellow or orange. The tiger snake uses venom to dispatch its prey, and may bite an aggressor; they are potentially fatal to humans. Tolerant of low temperatures, the snake may be active on warmer nights.
The Snake and the Farmer 1199 CE, when it first appears in Purnabhadra’s recension (III/6). On this account and others, therefore, Francisco Rodríguez Adrados proposes that, on the contrary, the Indian version has been influenced by the Greek. He has, however, to theorise that some less fragmentary original, as yet undiscovered, underlies all the others and he does not explain how these variations came about. Illustrations from books between the 16th - 19th centuries The Snake and the Farmer The Snake and the Farmer is a fable attributed to Aesop, of which there are ancient variants and several more from both Europe and India dating