Snakes!

[thedreamcatcher]

Not in the car, but on a recent drive in bangalore, my wife and me had been to a waterfall called Shivanasamudar (hope the spelling is right?). ON the way back,e took another route, kanakpura road, two lane highway in mint condition, all the way back to bangalore, rather than the regular mysore-blr route

We actually stumbled on this route as the GPS took us. Anway, despite the good road, it was very lonley and it was very dark. All of a sudden my wife shouted saying we drove over a snake, as it was slithering across the middle of the road. I did not belive at first, but she ws dead certain.

And, in the middle of a deserted road, i was in no crazy sense of mind to get out and inspect if a snake was stuck to the undercarriage of my car (freaked), lest it crawl into the car or scare the crap out of me. (remember the movie Bite)

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by star_aqua

Hi Pramod, The second one did behaved like a snake. but the first one even i felt it was not a snake. I still doubt the second one. can i get any specific details about it?

There are close to 26 described species of Caecilians in the western Ghats and i am not much into Caecilians. They are little bit difficult to differentiate until you have a field guide naming their species. I am certain that the second one is a Caecilian. the main characteristic of a caecilian is a pointed head and tail which they use to dig. The second one has a very prominant pointed head.


Pramod

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

There are close to 26 described species of Caecilians in the western Ghats and i am not much into Caecilians. They are little bit difficult to differentiate until you have a field guide naming their species. I am certain that the second one is a Caecilian. the main characteristic of a caecilian is a pointed head and tail which they use to dig. The second one has a very prominant pointed head.


Pramod

I thought those pics were of the Indian Shield Tail. Does that come under Caecilians? I have a found a couple of them on my treks.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I thought those pics were of the Indian Shield Tail. Does that come under Caecilians? I have a found a couple of them on my treks.

looks to me like a caecilian, the Perrotet's Shield-tail Snake is anyways a rare bread and is endangered so i am not sure if their sighting is common.

Pramod

[pramodkumar]

The irula snake coperative society has finally shut shop, This was mainly due to bad management of funds, a single gram of krait venom costs around 40k still they say they are running losses, this was the only GOVT managed unit in india which used to milk snakes for their venom to be used in the anti venom production, therir are hear says that its closed due to lobbying by private players, this has also taken away the livelyhood of more than 30000 irula tribes men families and they will will surly return to what they were earlier doing, killing snakes for their skins. This is the biggest setback, due this closure the antivenom will cost more now and will increase casualities. The day is not far when venomous snakes will be killed at sight and their species will be pushed to the brink of extinction.


All the visitors of this thread, lets unite and stand up for the cause.


Pramod

[addyhemmige]

This is bad. The Irulas livelihood will be hit and as you say Pramod, it is only bad news for the snakes. Apart from the Irulas, does any private player collect venom (to produce anti-venom)?

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

This is bad. The Irulas livelihood will be hit and as you say Pramod, it is only bad news for the snakes. Apart from the Irulas, does any private player collect venom (to produce anti-venom)?

There is a firm in mumbai which does this but at an obscene price.


Pramod

[Rajachu]

Pramod,this is really very bad news.what Mr Romulus doing for this?can you please put more light on this and how to make a movement which help the Irula intiative reopens.iam i dreaming here?

Raj

[supremeBaleno]

Last saturday around noon, this snake got into the kitchen at our home in Kerala. Luckily Mom saw it while it was hiding behind the gas cylinder. I am guessing it would have got in while pursuing some prey like a mouse/frog.






It looks like a harmless rat snake to me. Ofcourse will let the experts confirm. While we usually shoo away the rat snakes seen in our yard/field, BIL was not sure how to handle it inside the home and killed it.

[princezahed]

Poor thing. It was a rat snake.

[supremeBaleno]

Yeah, I thought so too. Just wanted confirmation from the experts. Thanks.

The rat snakes normally seen in our area are yellowish in color - these are just shooed away. It is the black ones that create confusion for people as to whether they could be venomous.

A neighbour reported seeing a Cobra in the bamboo thicket near his home. Now that has me worried.

[e1t1bet]

There is a bit of debate on whether all Rat Snakes are venomous or not (couldn't find the link, so sorry). Anyhow, people who frequently encounter snakes should seriously consider carrying anti-venom. There's a poly anti-venom available in India that works on Cobra and Russell's Viper bites. Of course, you'd need to learn to administer it as well.
Afaik, there's no anti-venom for a banded krait bite.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by e1t1bet

There is a bit of debate on whether all Rat Snakes are venomous or not (couldn't find the link, so sorry). Anyhow, people who frequently encounter snakes should seriously consider carrying anti-venom. There's a poly anti-venom available in India that works on Cobra and Russell's Viper bites. Of course, you'd need to learn to administer it as well.
Afaik, there's no anti-venom for a banded krait bite.

The polyvalent antivenom available in India can treat snake bites from the Cobra, Russels Viper, Sawscaled Viper and the Common Krait. I do not know though if it can treat the bite for the Banded Krait.

[gsferrari]

AFAIK Rat Snakes are non venomous to adults but their bite causes swelling and infection if not cleaned and treated.

[supremeBaleno]

While snakes (especially rat snakes) are common where we live in Kerala, I am yet to come across a Cobra - and hopefully I don't ever, since I don't really look forward to such an encounter. So, it came as a shock to us when the next door neighbour mentioned about spotting a cobra in the bamboo growth adjacent to his home.

A couple of days after he mentioned this, wifey noticed a snake (black colour) crawling away in the backyard. What surprised her was some kind of white marking on its head. Connecting the white marking with the V seen on a cobra's head, she wonders whether it could have been a cobra. Is it possible that the snake was a Cobra ?