I walked through my bedroom in the dark, turned my light on, and turned around to a little baby snake in my path (I was lucky I didn’t step on it). Unsure as to whether it was dead or alive, I stomped on the ground and it began to coil: an alive little baby snake!
I observed it for a few minutes, but of course had to jump over it to tell Chetna and Vijay. About five seconds later I returned with an army (10 people) to try to figure out what to do. The poor little thing was cornered, absolutely terrified and began to coil and strike carelessly and at random (not coming close to any of us- maybe it just wanted to scare us or maybe it had not idea what it was doing). The only thing Vijay and Chetna could think to do was kill it, understandable but undeniably upsetting.
At work this morning I searched the web to try to find out what kind of snake it was. It’s the spitting image of a snake I’ve never heard of before: The Common Krait, one of the most venomous snakes in India!
According to “reliable” internet sources, its venom is 15 times more potent than that of a cobra and has been reported to kill an ox (not a small animal) in 20 minutes. There is no specific anti-venom for a common krait bite.
And it’s pretty to boot!:
Its cousing, the Malayan Krait, kills half the people it bites, even with the use of anti-vemon. The question then, of course, is how aggressive it is.
Pretty cool, huh?
3 comments:
Where's Uncle Bo when you need him???????
Suz-your life in India is just too exciting. Please stop trying to give us all a heart attack! ;) Although, Sarah and I just went to the National Zoo this weekend and thought of you...I particularly enjoy the reptile house. I'm very glad that you did not step on the super venomous but cute baby snake and that no one got hurt (except the snake-may he/she rest in peace). Please wear rubber boots at all times while in the house...hahah. For my sake.
(That is a super cool story though...I would have screamed for dear life. Or soiled myself.)
Be careful about common krait, its timid during the day and hyper active at night. I have rescued common krait four out of five at night at Chandigarh. These snakes are very common in the human inhabited areas. Most encounters take place at night and many a people have reported missing their steps on kraits. The worse thing is when people are caught by surprise by any emergency, so one should be prepared for such eventuality - what to do when confronted by a snake like this, look for the best options, how to avoid getting bitten, if bitten then what is to be done, where to go for treatment, etc. One must have cell numbers of doctors who can handle snakebite cases, every doctor can not handle snakebite victims. Best is to learn about them as much as one needs as a common man. You may look for my website, where I have tried some basic stuff, which will be improved slowly. I am not leaving my website address here, considering that you may treat as spam. My mission to reach people to educate them about snakes and snakebite.
STAY AWAY FROM FANGS !!!
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