Two species of crocodiles, the marsh crocodile and the gharial inhabit the rivers. Desert horned viper bites are usually very painful, and in some cases have proven fatal.

This festival is held once a year during winters.

The gharial is a fish-eating crocodile and does not attack humans. Survival.

The hot, dry climate of Rajasthan, its vast sandy areas, hilly tracts and numerous lakes, rivers and waterbodies provide diverse habitat conditions suitable for a number of species of reptiles which include crocodiles, snakes, lizards and turtles.

Rajasthan desert festivals are celebrated with great zest and zeal. Named for their distinctive “horns” located over each eye, horned desert vipers are very similar to the sidewinders of the United States.

The fair has snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats and folk performers. Dressed in brilliantly hued costumes, the people of the desert dance and sing haunting ballads of valor, romance and tragedy. In order to combat the heat and lack of water, animals are smaller and primarily nocturnal.

They can also conserve the amount of water longer in the desert climate. The black cobra, sand boa and large rat snake are the deadliest snakes of the region. Desert snakes hide in the sand and eat lizards and insects. The most common venomous snakes in the Sahara -- and the only ones likely to be encountered in the sand dunes -- are desert horned vipers (Cerastes cerastes).