Craspedocephalus strigatus

The horseshoe pit viper is a venomous snake endemic to the Western Ghats of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in the upper Nilgiri Mountains. It can be told from other pit vipers of peninsular India by its small internasal scales, a second upper lip scale touching the pit scale, 21 rows of smooth or weakly keeled back scales at midbody, and a single row of scales between lip and eye scales (Wikipedia, general species account).

It prefers montane forest, shola patches and grassland at 1,100–2,400 m. It lives on the ground, with most sightings on the ground or rock formations, and is probably active by day, but its natural history is poorly known. It preys on frogs, smaller snakes and small rodents such as mice. It was historically misidentified and misreported from places outside its range.