You wouldn’t think Beijing would play host to a host of wild animals. But the city apparently has all kinds of snakes, leopards, hog badgers, weasels in the vacinity, and even a murder of crows that roost at night in the trees on the Dongdan section of Chang An Street.

Danwei has a great and ongoing collection of stories concerning these animals. And to think, in Korea we just have rats and wild cats.

Here’s a bit from the description of the Tiger-Striped Neck Groove Snake, “found in all the suburban areas and even town and city centers, especially around bodies of water.”

It is a mid-sized water snake common all over China. Previously thought not to be poisonous, it was later found that a bite from this snake could cause a wound that does not stop bleeding; if the venom comes into contact with the eye, it can cause the cornea to swell and become bloodshot. This is the most common type of snake in Beijing and there are many of them.