A rarely seen venomous orange snake with a name befitting a sci-fi superhero (or villain) has been spotted in the southeastern part of the UAE.
The Arabian cat snake was observed twice last year – once in July and a second time in October – in Wadi Helo, along the border of Sharjah and Fujairah.
The two sightings appear to be the only published record of the species in the UAE since 2009, according to a recent report in The Herpetological Bulletin.
The recent sightings “add important data to the current known distribution and status of the Arabian cat snake within the UAE and suggest that there is a stable population in at least the south of the country and that Wadi Helo represents an important area” for the species in the UAE, researchers wrote in the report, “An updated distribution of the Arabian cat snake Telescopus dhara in the United Arab Emirates” published last November.
The first cat snake in the UAE was found in Sharjah and reported in 2007. It was likely transported in date palms imported into the country from northern Oman, according to researchers.
The species was subsequently spotted three more times, often as road kill, in Fujairah, Kalba and Wadi Helo until 2009 when it was last seen.
Since then, the Arabian cat snake – better known to scientists as Telescopus dhara – reappeared in the UAE slithering on a tree stump late one July night last year. A second sighting was recorded in the same general area of Wadi Helo three months later when a snake was discovered “moving slowly across a loose rocky slope” around 1am. In both cases, the snakes were orange in colour, which corresponds to the previous recorded sightings in the UAE.
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“Potential habitat of T. dhara exists throughout the Hajar mountain range and multiple records from both the more northerly Musandam Peninsula and Oman to the south lend further support to a potentially more continuous area of occupancy within the UAE,” researchers wrote.
An adult cat snake is on average between 60 and 70cm in length and likely got its name from its distinctive facial features, said Mr Gardner.
“It is apparently called a cat snake due to its large eyes with vertical pupils,” said Mr Gardner, who now lives in Australia. “It is a nocturnal snake that lives in rocky areas. Hence, in the UAE it is restricted to the Hajar mountains.”
The cat snake is “rear-fanged,” and feeds on small geckos and birds.
“Rear fanged snakes find it quite hard to engage the fangs on a large animal such as a human leg or arm,” said Mr Gardner. “In my experience, these snakes are very reluctant to bite. While there is no documented evidence regarding the potency of the venom of this species, the venom is not considered harmful to humans.
“It does however have large venom glands, and it should be treated with caution. There is always the possibility that someone might be allergic to the venom, and this could cause more serious problems.”
Although the species is not endangered, the authors suggest it “may be uncommon” and is “deserving of listing on the UAE Red Data List of species of conservation concern.”
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
TYPES%20OF%20ONLINE%20GIG%20WORK
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5