[Dr Alpha]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

However - confused by the second sentence. You strongly advocate to handle poisonous snakes? Or is that a typo error?

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

I think the good Dr meant do not handle snakes!

By HANDLE I meant venomous snakes should be properly DEATH WITH in the way they don’t cause harm to any others. Since it is a public forum I’d like to put it in a delicate way possible.

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

we are most susceptible to their bites since they tend to stay put and don’t run away when they know something big is approaching.

Agree and they are the most intimidating and aggressive ones when confronted. They make a intimidating hissing sound too.

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

The vipers venom is made up of hemeotoxins - toxins that affect the blood and tissues. Death is usually caused by renal failure. I’ve seen viper bites - they literally melt muscle.

Even after the patient survives the area around the bite mark which is necrosed by the hemotoxins remain blackish. There are incidents where the Russel viper took a good part of the calf muscle away with a bite.

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

The kraits and the cobra on the other inject neurotoxins, that affect nerves and nerve signals - death is usually caused by respiratory failure.

These are worst way to die. I’ve seen my dog gasping for breath and dying a cruel and painful death because of a cobra bite, but not before taking down the snake. The CCTV footage of the dogs final moments gives me chills even now.

Cobras can spray their venom over a good distance. If the venom comes in contact with a wound or bruised skin or ulcer over skin or any part of mucous or eyes one should immediately visit a hospital and get checked.

[subuiyer]

Originally Posted by Dr Alpha

Cobras can spray their venom over a good distance. If the venom comes in contact with a wound or bruised skin or ulcer over skin or any part of mucous or eyes one should immediately visit a hospital and get checked.

Didnt realize this. Can all cobras in India spray their venom over a distance?

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by haria

Well, not quite.

He might not have a formal education / higher education about snakes.

The problem is not Vava Suresh. The problem is his fanboys. That is what makes him defiant in spite of the overwhelming evidence against his techniques and showboating. Reminds of the issue with the ebulljet - relatable to us in an automobile forum

Not discounting the efforts that Vava Suresh have put in to popularize snake catching against the earlier practice of killing them. But his catching technique is detrimental to the snakes. In the face of new scientific catching techniques he should shed his ego and embrace new method. With his social media reach that would save many of his fans trying to emulate him

And the misinformation he has spread through Kaumudi channel is enough to fill a book.

Like in the case of Vava Suresh, there are hundreds of families who are indebted to many less popular snake catchers. And in this case, even the snakes would be thankful

The story with Forest Department is different - they are pulled back by the public opinion. The videos that you have shared will no longer happen - Forest department has come out with very precise guidelines about the procedure to catch snakes and there is a registered list of trained snake catchers across the state who are licensed to do so. Please note that this is the result of a few snake lovers who have not come into the limelight but have worked tirelessly to get the scientific method acceptable to the authorities.

Let us not undermine a positive development just in the name of fanboyism

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by subuiyer

Didnt realize this. Can all cobras in India spray their venom over a distance?

No cobra in India can spray venom!

[Dr Alpha]

Originally Posted by subuiyer

Didnt realize this. Can all cobras in India spray their venom over a distance?

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

No cobra in India can spray venom!

I’m not sure wether all Indian cobras can spit venom. My surgery professor who’s a retired army surgeon and worked extensively with ASV production while working in army thought us about how to approach treatment for patients exposed to spraying of cobra venom in India. Despite being a surgery professor he was invited by medicine and forensic department professors to cover snake bite topics in their respective subjects due to his experience and vast knowledge on the subject. So I’d definitely say there are venom spraying cobras in India.

( For those who do not know, ASV is produced by injecting snake venom into horses and the antibody produced by their immune system is collected and processed to produce ASV for human)

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

No cobra in India can spray venom!

Apparently this fellow can

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocled_cobra

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Apparently this fellow can

Ah true but very rare in India!

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

Ah true but very rare in India!

Do you have any suggestion on the process to follow in Chennai when we spot a snake in or near our house? Earlier we used to call Forest department (Guindy office) but they have become quite lazy and by the time they turn up either we will be dead or the snake will be dead

So we call some snake catchers through the colony watchman (probably Irula tribes near crocodile bank?). Though they are quite good in catching the snakes, they release them just nearby for money.

I suspect it has become a recurring business as recently in our place snakes have become more frequent.

[shankar.balan]

@thirdmainroad
Superb fund of information.
Thanks for articulating all of that.
I also grew up in places where ‘snakes abound and scorpions are common objects of the wayside’ - to quote in perfect context, from the inimitable PG Wodehouse’s superb book ‘Uneasy Money’.
And yes indeed, all of what you have articulated is absolutely true.
Even nowadays in Coorg and similar places which have dense undergrowth and a tropical climate, there are dangerous little chaps like the Malabar Pit Viper and his siblings and cousins and extended relatives, lurking about.
Best to send those ‘vibrations’ while walking. And let the snakes move away.
The trouble is that if it is a Krait in the vicinity, they are lazy and sluggish fellows especially up in the hills and simply wont move off easily.
My dogs on multiple occasions while walking about the estates where my dad worked, have warned me by growling.
But overall Im an advocate of live and let live.

[thirdmainroad]

Came across an interesting video in India today, which shows a cobra swallowing a “python.”

The article’s heading is “On Camera: Cobra swallows Python, rare snake encounter stuns locals in Mysuru.”

However, the snake that’s being swallowed is not a python but a dreaded Russell’s viper. This is a very common mistake, where people think vipers are pythons and try to handle them and get bitten.

Can anyone tell me why that’s a Russell’s viper and not a python?

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Do you have any suggestion on the process to follow in Chennai when we spot a snake in or near our house?

You ought to try calling the fire department.

The Irrulas are also a good option. The Madras Croc bank pays irrulas to bring in the big 4, so they can milk venom so it’s a positive incentive for them.

Research shows snakes have home ranges and they get quite uncomfortable in a new environment but I suppose in cities they have to adjust if left far away.

If they are non venomous - it’s not a big issue if they leave them close by, but in a place where the snakes are safe from humans.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

Can anyone tell me why that’s a Russell’s viper and not a python?

The pattern? The viper has distinct separated patterns, the python's patterns seem to merge. Can't see the head, otherwise that would have been an indicator, being triangular in the viper.

Didn't realize normal cobras were cannibalistic, I thought only the King ate other snakes.

At the Singapore Zoo, was wondering how they got enough snakes to feed their King Cobra, since Singapore has hardly any space and I imagine not many snakes in the wild. The staff member I spoke with said they 'fooled' the King by stuffing more easily available meat inside sections of cut-up snakes!

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by am1m

The pattern? The viper has distinct separated patterns, the python's patterns seem to merge. Can't see the head, otherwise that would have been an indicator, being triangular in the viper.

Didn't realize normal cobras were cannibalistic, I thought only the King ate other snakes

Correct! The viper has an uniform diamond shaped pattern where as the pythons pattern is more patchy. Head shape as well, but it’s actually tough to differentiate, especially in smaller snakes.

The Russell’s viper has also the loudest hiss amongst snakes.

Most snakes, if not all, are cannibals and will eat other snakes - though they do prefer to prey on other species and not their own.

The King Cobra though is predominantly a snake gulper, and will gladly eat another king as well!

[thirdmainroad]

Here’s a picture of the two.

Notice the uniform diamond pattern running through the back of the Russell’s Viper, and compare to the more patchy pattern of a Indian Rock Python





Note to mods: Please pardon back to back posts, but I couldn’t edit the previous post to add photos.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

how do we check whether hospital has anti-venom.

Big multi speciality hospitals will usually have it, or will immediately direct one to places that will have it. They will know. And government hospitals, such as the district level ones, will definitely have it. This is applicable to anti rabies vaccine as well.

As for applying a torniquet between the bite site and the heart, it can be applied only if bitten on a limb. And one should be trained to apply it, lest blood supply is totally cut off to the limb, which may be equally serious. So better not to do it.

A friend of mine was bitten by a snake long ago, and had the tell tale puncture wound. But the snake had run away in to the darkness, so no way of killing and taking it to the hospital for identification. He was administered anti venom any way, and it caused no ill effect on him. It certainly did not kill him! He did not develop any venom symptoms either, so what bit him might have given him a dry bite, or might have been non venomous.

I worked for a large fertilizer major, with their factory and township in a south TN town. I have lived in the township for a number of years. It is a sprawling wooded campus with a large snake population. The authorities will arrange for snake catching when the sightings become too frequent, about once every five years. Roughly 300 - 400 snakes will be caught, and the species will be cobras, vipers and rat snakes - roughly one third each. Funny thing is, the place has a huge peacock population, which will be roaming like hens on the streets and backyards. And an equally big mongoose population too! There have been only a few snake bite cases over the fifty years the place has existed, and zero fatalities.

The doctors in our medical centre assured us the hospital is always stocked with antivenom which was effective against multiple species, and not to bother with bringing the snake. Despite this one fellow who was was bitten by a snake that came out of a bin he had just opened in the factory stores, killed it immediately with a huge spanner, picked up the snake in one hand and went by scooter to the medical centre. And ran in to the doctor's room shouting "doctor, doctor, this is what bit me, please give me a suitable injection', freaking out the doctor!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

The King Cobra though is predominantly a snake gulper, and will gladly eat another king as well!

Yep, some time ago, a researcher who had been involved in the radio telemetry project to study King Cobra behavior mentioned that this was the reason the Forest Department cited to stop the project! Because one of the snakes being studied, ate the other one! Like it was induced by or the fault of the telemetry equipment embedded in the snake!

https://diversityindianews.blogspot....=1268151813952

Under such perplexing difficulties, the researchers in our country still manage to work.

But it seems like better sense prevailed again after some years:

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...in-agumbe.html