The mythical Dahong-palay

ATagalog legend tells us that Bathala once summoned all snakes to partake in a jar full of venom so that they could arm their fangs with the toxic soup with which to kill their prey and protect themselves from anyone who wished to do them harm. Dahongpalay (and his orthographical variant dahunpalay), who woke up late, arrived with the deadly liquid already consumed by all the other snakes. He instead resorted to crawling inside the jar where his skin absorbed the residue, making him exceptional for being venomous through skin contact instead of through bite.

A touch from a provoker would be enough to cause death. For this reason, the dahong-palay became one of the most feared of all forest denizens and a sighting is enough to send anyone scampering away, lest the dahong-palay, with all the malice it could possibly conjure, chase the intruder and brush his skin in a fatal caress.

Ahaetulla prasina and their subspecies are strictly tied to forests. Whereas other arboreal snakes from the genera Dendrelaphis, Dryophiops, Chrysopelea, and Gonyosoma are apt to be found within human habitation, Ahaetulla appears acutely intolerant of human presence and activities. It is for this reason that these snakes often escape human persecution, a grim fate that is ever-present for snakes in a nation populated by deliberately ophidiophobic masses.

However, the continued habitat destruction and conversion of lowland forests have greatly diminished suitable habitats for these snakes and myriad other species.