Snake in garden

[geworthomd]

If you say it had a red neck then a Red Necked Keelback. Not  really harmful to humans at all. The Keelbacks have a checkered looking pattern. Like the Rat snake, the Keelbacks keep your rodent population down. Again, all snakes bite. 

[geworthomd]

Red neck?  That can only mean a Red Necked Keelback. Pattern is like a checkerboard. Not poisonous to humans. They kill rodents for you. All snakes bite. The Red Necked Keelback is common. It is the only herbivore that has a red neck collar. Great for amateur herpetologists to see. No need to pick up any snake. You can admire this one. 

[geworthomd]

The shovel on the snake pic and the dog who passed is a cobra. Do look at the rear and you see it molting. Last night I thought it mostly looked like a non-venemous Rat Snake. This morning with clearer eyes and some sleep I can confirm this to be the King Cobra. This is the largest of the cobras. The greenish skin hasn’t any markings that ate easy to notice. Mistakenly, a person might get close in order to see if there is a pattern. There isn’t much of a pattern when viewed 10 feet away. 
cobras all have heads that seem too small for their body. 
The tip of the shovel is pulling on the cobra’s hood. The fact that the dog died makes this a venomous /viper snake. There is a vaccine for your future dog. This doggie probably saved the life of a child or kid. Dogs are truly our friends when raised well - just like any compassionate human being.
There is a vaccine for humans as well. Cobras like to hang on under piles of dead palm tree leaves and other foliage. Unlike Sea snakes,  the cobra is an ambush predator and likes to stay cool on a hot day and wait. Thailand does also have the Spitting Cobra so please don’t try to approach to kill any really large snake without a face shield or at minimum a set of weed wacker goggles. For safety, I would not recommend trying to kill any snake. Call a local. They will know what to do.  It is unfortunate but a cobra cannot be allowed to coexist with humans. One last thing, the juveniles are a fairly glossy dark green and are more vibrant. When they are seen they are often a foot long. You may wonder if it is a common non-lethal snake because it is small. These little buggers are more venomous young as compared to adults. They strike with high speed vs the slower speed of a full size adult. They get angry more easily and are less predictable. Their necks are particularly delicious to scorpions - whose juveniles also share those same juvenile traits as cobra juveniles. So sd for the loss of your canine friend. He truly was protecting you. 

[LawrenceN]

9 hours ago, geworthomd said:

Red neck?  That can only mean a Red Necked Keelback. Pattern is like a checkerboard. Not poisonous to humans. They kill rodents for you. All snakes bite. The Red Necked Keelback is common. It is the only herbivore that has a red neck collar. Great for amateur herpetologists to see. No need to pick up any snake. You can admire this one. 

They're herbivores but they kill rodents? What, just for fun?

[LawrenceN]

On 11/9/2020 at 7:30 AM, LawrenceN said:

Could someone please identify the snake? I found one of those floating in my garden lotus pool just this Saturday. Drowned, apparently. If venomous, it would be the first I have encountered in almost ten years in this house. I occasionally see golden tree snakes and those keel-backed checkered whatsits. 

I did some more investigation. The one I fished out of my pond was a yellow-bellied water snake. Harmless. This is in Sansai, Chiang Mai. 

[onebir]

Maybe time to invest in a snake catcher.

[ddeellbbooyy]

On 11/9/2020 at 1:21 AM, VocalNeal said:

 

Best wishes for the dog. 

Dog made a full recovery managed to get anti cobra venom in time from the local hospital or vet . Got a spare anti cobra venom in the fridge now just in case 

Edited November 12, 2020 by ddeellbbooyy

[PhonThong]

On 11/8/2020 at 7:31 PM, tonray said:

The food is rodents mainly....with rice fields around...they are around no doubt

Cobras main diet consist of other snakes.

[tonray]

1 hour ago, PhonThong said:

Cobras main diet consist of other snakes.

and other snakes eat ?

[geworthomd]

On 11/10/2020 at 7:15 PM, LawrenceN said:

They're herbivores but they kill rodents? What, just for fun?

Good catching my brain fart mistake of word.  Thank you.  They eat rats that are named Herby in every colony...Lol  

[geworthomd]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:19 PM, ddeellbbooyy said:

Dog made a full recovery managed to get anti cobra venom in time from the local hospital or vet . Got a spare anti cobra venom in the fridge now just in case 

That is the best news I have read on these forums yet.  Way to go fiddo.  Give that little one a forehead massage for me.  Well done!  Did you know that a dog is the only other animal on this planet, other than humans, that will let a human become pack leader?  Did you know that humans, dogs and pigs are the only animals to scan the faces of humans from left visual field to right? 

[Susco]

On 11/10/2020 at 10:43 PM, onebir said:

Maybe time to invest in a snake catcher.

 

A 1 meter long snake catcher? No thanks.

 

I luckily have few snakes on my property, probably because it is completely walled, but when I have one I use the pool skimming net on a telescopic pole 3-5 meters, to scoop it up and move over the perimeter wall

[riclag]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:19 PM, ddeellbbooyy said:

Dog made a full recovery managed to get anti cobra venom in time from the local hospital or vet . Got a spare anti cobra venom in the fridge now just in case 

When you got the anti venom serum did they supply you with a syringe ?

[Neeranam]

On 11/9/2020 at 8:31 AM, tonray said:

The food is rodents mainly....with rice fields around...they are around no doubt

Or frogs. 

 

What does one do when encountering a cobra, apart from run? 

 

I've only met 2 Green ones in my kitchen and a 3 m rat snake. Oh, also a couple of krait, one in Bkk and one in Nackon Nayok. 

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

What does one do when encountering a cobra, apart from run? 

Some people hire an agent....ha ha ha

[FireMedic]

That for sure is a monocled cobra....the 3rd pic of the back of his head is plain as day......

[malthebluff]

Plant some marigolds in pots and put them around the fence snakes hate the smell and they keep away. Old thai lady told me to do it and I thought she crazy but it really works I was killing 2 a month now not seen any for 6 month 

[FireMedic]

[jak2002003]

Wonder if dogs can be trained not to kill or bite the snakes?

 

I have 2 dogs and when they find a snake on the garden they will surround it and bark at it to alert me that something is wrong.

 

They will follow it about, barking, and keep an eye on it till it either goes out under the gate or I can scoop it up with the swimming pool net(if it's a small one)

 

 

If it's the big Burmese Python that eats my ducks, or a large cobra ???? I will take the dogs inside and leave the snake to go away on its own.

 

Birds are also a good indicator of there is a snake about. They often flock together, making agitated annoyed calls, and even dive bomb and peck at a snakes head to drive it away.

 

I once had 3 snakes at the same time chasing each other around and around the house at night speed. The smaller 2 chasing a huge long one.  Eventually they all slithered out under the gate. 

 

Sounds like I get a lot of snakes, but all these visited over nearly 20 years, so they are not a common occurrence.