Snakes

[Mai Krap]

Just wondering if anyone has any good snake storys lately,,, today my niegbor across the street killed a 5 ft long king cobra and a few days ago we killed a banded krait ten feet from my back door...... I also saw a what I believe was a red headed krait on the mainland but it got away before I could get a positive ID..... the red headed krait is suposed to be realy rare..... I ran over a king cobra with my motercycle and have ran over a half dozen unidentified snakes as they crawled onto the road and I had no time to stop,,,, lift the legs and go..... the guy I talked to at the red cross said there were more snakes here on ko chang than anywhere,,,, Im starting to believe him......

[KevinN]

not real recent,but not to long ago we were driving up to Khao Kho and my wife was driving,we saw a python that was crossing the road and it was almost as long as both traffic lanes were wide, she stopped the car a ways back and waited for it to cross.

We see a lot of mongoose up there tho,always one fooling along by the roadside,so I do not think there will be to many snakes in that area.

[tatom]

Here in our part of Isaan, we have a sh!t load of snakes! It used to be quite a concern for me till we got our German shepard. We got the dog as a watchdog for people, and hes good at that, but hes become a good snakedog too. The first incedent was when my wife came face to face with a king cobra. She froze, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, good 'ol Jacques came to the rescue, pushing my wife away and having at it with the cobra. It was quite a fight but Jacques won.

Another time, I was about to sit down in the breezway to read but the dog wouldnt let me. I could tell there was something up and looked around but saw nothing. I told Jacques to go away but he wouldnt. Then I spotted it. A green pit viper curled up on the table right where I rest my arm!

The dog has killed about a dozen cobras and a 3 meter long python. Hes never been bitten, but several times has been blinded by spitting cobras. The first time it happened, he looked real bad and we thought he was blind for life. Then Grandpa next door said not to worry. He said to dig up some "ka" the stuff used for making tom yam soup, and chew it and spit the juice in the dogs eyes. 24 hours later, he was good as new. (pretty smart people, those Thais, eh?).

I was wondering how the snakes were getting into the house, then one day my wife called to me. There was a snake climbing up the house. It was able to climb up the wall by hugging the corner on both sides.

I have to smile about the motorcycle thing. I do it too. I guess its just natural to lift your feet when you run over a big snake. Oh yeah, dont brake either, give it the gas!

[wolf5370]

Just wondering if anyone has any good snake storys lately,,, today my niegbor across the street killed a 5 ft long king cobra and a few days ago we killed a banded krait ten feet from my back door...... I also saw a what I believe was a red headed krait on the mainland but it got away before I could get a positive ID..... the red headed krait is suposed to be realy rare..... I ran over a king cobra with my motercycle and have ran over a half dozen unidentified snakes as they crawled onto the road and I had no time to stop,,,, lift the legs and go..... the guy I talked to at the red cross said there were more snakes here on ko chang than anywhere,,,, Im starting to believe him......

Not surpised some species are getting rare if you keep killing them. Will not be "more snakes here on ko chang than anywhere" for long then eh?

Snakes do not attack people unless you tread/ride over them, so don't. Stay away and they will not bother you. If it is in your house, then use a broom to push it out, or dump a blanket on it a lob the whole package out the door/window.

More people are killed each year, worldwide, by their own pets than by snakes.

I would be far more worried of my dog (if I had one) being bitten by a rodent or a monkey and getting rabbies than by a snake. At least the snake bite can't be passed on.

I have seen Thai's kill snakes in the rice fields, but at least these end up in a pot for the planters.

Whatever, it's certainly not a Buddhist practise to destroy life - especially for fun - in fact its the first precept! A monk told me 4 y/o daughter off for squishing an ant at the temple a couple of weeks back, and that was just an ant.

[stroll]

What about eating them, any poisonous varietys?

[350torana]

I don't want to sound like a tree hugger. But I always think snkaes get a raw deal . My expeirence with Thai snakes is limited living in Bkk . But being Austrelian had plenty of expeirence with them. If a snake invades your house then dispatch it of course . But snakes are just going about thier business of living , they do not want a confrontation with a person , dog, motorcycle or anything they do not see as a meal, they will try and escape if given the chance . Snakes are great at rodent control and most people get bitten agravating one.

Oh well, maybe Thai snakes are different, I don't know .

[stroll]

"More people are killed each year, worldwide, by their own pets than by snakes."

What kind of pets do you keep?

[Bluecat]

"More people are killed each year, worldwide, by their own pets than by snakes."

What kind of pets do you keep?

Tigers,...

[350torana]

I feel sorry for those little 6 inch snakes, always getting cut up and feed to the local waterfowl

[tatom]

As for killing snakes, the wife and I have discussed it and never kill them except when unavoidable such as when on the motorcycle. If one were to brake, by the time one stopped, he would be on top of the snake and in a delicate situation.

Its true, the snakes are great at rodent control. Also true, snakes will avoid people and mind thier own business. They will also bite if stepped on and they dont care if it was intentional or not.

Our dog is also doing his job of protecting us. I would like to explain to him that I would prefer he simply chase the snakes away. Hes a smart dog, but not that smart! A snake does what comes natural to a snake and the same for a dog.

I too, hope no one kills a snake just for the sake of killing, or any other thing for that matter. Remember all the threads on dogs and poison?

[stroll]

"I feel sorry for those little 6 inch snakes, always getting cut up and feed to the local waterfowl"

On a more serious note, how do you recognise a poisonous snake, which different kinds are there? I also cringe when I see people kill them unnecessarily.

[KevinN]

We also have a THAI dog,she is about 2 years old and was raised from a small pup behind out chain link fence,and she is very good at detecting snakes and will kill them and now we also have a German Shepard pup that is getting her education from the Thai dog.

If when running over a snake with your motorcycle,you happen to hit the rear brake at the last second when passing over the snake,the friction of the tire will snap the skin on the snake,wadding it up and will surely kill it,if you just roll freely over the snake,you will not hurt it in the least.

Trees overhanging your house will also let snakes in as they will fall out of the tree onto your roof,,I was told this by a Thai and they cut all the overhanging limbs when we had our new house built,,now that is what I was told and have no idea how true it is.

If you have your dog vaccinated for RABIES, as is required by law,then they will not contact rabies,no matter what bites them.

[Emuu]

I feel sorry for those little 6 inch snakes, always getting cut up and feed to the local waterfowl"

On a more serious note, how do you recognise a poisonous snake, which different kinds are there? I also cringe when I see people kill them unnecessarily. 

The simple Aussie answer to that is to treat all snakes as poisonous unless you are very competent in snake species recognitiona and have a clear view of the snake at the time. If bitten, kill the snake and take it with you to the holspital to ensure positive ID and appropriate anti venom.

This last tactic should not be used for the "one eyed trouser snake" identified at the beginning of the quote. The most common symptom of this snakes poison is inflamation of the abdomen in women increasing for a period of nine months after the attack. These snakes can be coated in plastic to prevent the bite becoming feotal.

[Padkapow Guy]

snakes make me run into trees

[eyespan]

On a more serious note, how do you recognise a poisonous snake, which different kinds are there? I also cringe when I see people kill them unnecessarily.

During my army days the survival instructors used to tell me that the rectangular head means the snake is non-poisonous and a sharply triangular head means there is poison.

Anyways, if you are in traffic and a small animal jumps in front of you, what do you do?

Run over it mercilessly of course! Its selfish people who want to get a "I feel wonderful" tingling sensation for saving some poor critter that cause human lives to be lost in road accidents.

What you can do for the house, is to constantly sprinkle a little sulphur on the parameters of the house, or onto where they usually enter the house. It works like a reppellant.

[Axel]

Have been told to keep ducks. Seems their dry excrement will shy the snakes away. Got ourselves once 3 of them little birds. Did not work. Finally somebody told us we would need abouot 100 to be effective.

An old Thai way to catch the snake? I don't know, but if lucky enough to get it he will eat it.

[Spellbound]

Good link of SNAKES IN THAILAND with colour photos and toxic / danger threat level. Have a look !!!

http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes-en.html

SNAKE LINK CLICK HERE

[Boo]

My old landlady planted lemon grass ariound our houses when I found a king cobra in the bathroom one time ingesting a gecko. Not sure how effective it is but we never saw another one . Anyone else heard of lemongrass being an effective cobra repellent???

[Bluecat]

Anyone else heard of lemongrass being an effective cobra repellent???

Are snakes related to mosquitoes?

[Axel]

Anyone else heard of lemongrass being an effective cobra repellent???

Well I did a quick google and here we go: (I added the bold).

Lemongrass

A wonderful refreshing herb to explore during our hot summer months, lemongrass is native to South East Asia but is also grown in Central and South America, Africa, India, Australia and parts of the United States. This tropical grass resembles a spring onion but has an attractive sweet-scented lemon flavour. It is one of the essential herbs that gives Thai and Vietnamese food their distinctive flavour. In folklore, lemongrass planted around the home and in the garden was used to repel snakes and other unwanted pests

It is also traditionally used in some lust potions, as well as to help clear the mind and develop psychic powers.

http://www.colba.net/~ajstrong/2001_05.htm

Not sure, how much the lust potion will help, perhaps one can dance with the snakes?

[stroll]

"During my army days the survival instructors used to tell me that the rectangular head means the snake is non-poisonous and a sharply triangular head means there is poison."

I am not a square head, I am the round, harmless variety.

[olaus]

My thai wife told me to plant "Ka" (Galanka-root) in our garden for cooking in soups and to keep away snakes. "They do not like the smell from this plant". It is true we have not seen any snake around our home yet. But you do not have to walk far away to see some. I am not sure about this method. Maybe better keep away the rats.

Olaus

[Dutchy2]

We live around 25 km east of Bangkok and we have had some snakes in our garden in the last year, most of them were about 2 meters long, brown, black and scared to death. We did some major work on the wall around our property and this helped. We haven't seen big ones again, only one small Cobra, 50cm, in front of the gate. We've got two dogs and our son at home, the dogs somehow looks interested at the snakes but do not dare to follow them or even bite. One of our dogs was bitten in our old house by something in the garden and she lost all her hair over the course of two months, she had been very sick for ten days. I guess it must have been a snake but there's also a kind of centipede that I killed once in our garden, the dogs finished that animal pretty well off as it was already more dead than alive. About 30 cm long.

I must say that the snakes we've had were way beyond my imagination, I imagined killing them before but never expected them to be that big and fast. There's no way catching them, I prefer a king Cobra over the fast snakes we had. Cobras stay relativley at the same place an don't move around that fast...

Cheers

Dutchy

[Nam Kao]

My wifes brothers are part time gold hunters and snake hunters.

There are certain snakes they look for that are a delicacy and they can

sell for good money. The meat is pretty good barbequed but i cant

stomach eating the skin.

In general the thai people around my house will kill all poisonous snakes

as they are a threat to the children. One neighbor was killed as he unknowingly slipped into

bed with a King. He would have lived if he had $$$ to get to a good hospital.

The kids really have no chance against the venom being small in volume.

My wife said when she was small some of her friends were picked off by

crocodiles (Jalakay).

This is me walking around there ->

[Mai Krap]

As usual a couple whiners have taken this topic out of context,,,,,, I try not to justify my behavoir in the Kingdom but in this case I will........ I have never killed a snake in Thailand on purpose,,,,, "maybe ran over some but had no choice"...... Thais are the first to go after any snake anytime anywhere,,,,, There are Cambodian workers here on Ko Chang and they will eat any snake they can get.... The krait that was killed was around ten feet from my back door and they are deadly and not a welcome house geust.... The king cobra that was killed was trying to get into my neigbors house and she screamed until a Cambodian guy ran over there and whacked it..... This was very good luck for him cause it was on a friday and he and the lads drained the blood and some vitals to mix with homemade rice whisky and start the weekend off right......... I would kill any deadly snake in close proxemity to my home,,,,,, I do not kill or harm any snake in its environment nor would there be any need to....... Im not the guy responsible for <deleted> up the environment here nor have I been dineing on endangered species....

[tatom]

I have seen my Thai neighbors kill snakes and not eat them. Dont know why, but its not my business.

We have ka, lemongrass, and a non edible plant that is supposed to keep away snakes, and we still have lots of snakes.

I once saw a big black snake. My dog started to chase it. Now, my dog can really run FAST, but he couldnt catch that snake.

I read a book about a Canadian school girl who lived with a Thai family for a year. She said she once was looking at a snake and it just dissapeared. She said it was quite amazing. It reminded of the day the same thing happened to me. I saw a small snake on some of our pole beans. I had never seen a snake like that and was examining it closely. My face was about 2 feet away from the snake and I was staring right at it, when it just vanished! I looked all around for it but, it was nowhere to be found. I couldnt figure it out but, I thought there was a resonable explanation. Then after reading the story about the Canadian girl, I got to wondering. Anyone heard of dissapearing snakes?

[stroll]

"Im not the guy responsible for <deleted> up the environment here"

Right, you're not, but neither have I noticed any 'whiners' posting here.

[Stocky]

What you can do for the house, is to constantly sprinkle a little sulphur on the parameters of the house, or onto where they usually enter the house. It works like a reppellant. 

The ring of sulphur seemed to work on my house in Malaysia. We had a couple of Kraits come visiting. They got in to the house and the maid called the fire brigade who came and took them away, alive, I don't think they killed them. The firemen suggested we sprinkle a line of sulphur around the entrances. No more snakes.

Sleeping out in a bivvy bag in Africa I've always relied on a circle of rope; it's probably <deleted> but I've never had a snake in my bivvy

[Johpa]

We have a home in the hills of Chiang Mai. We see plenty of snakes around the village. The vast majority are seen running away from the sight of us. That being said, venomous snakes, mostly Siamese cobras, are simply not tolerated within the village proper and the neighbors will mount a co-ordinated assault, including any firearm at hand, to deal with the snake with extreme predjudice. But only the men will eat the meat of a cobra due to local cultural thinking. Non-venomous snakes are eaten by everyone when caught by the village kids.

There are few, if any, stories in the village of cobra bites although cobras are commonly seen. There are many stories, and visible missing muscle tissue, of bites from the venomous green tree snake. Pythons have become extremely rare as have most larger animals in the northern Thai forests and I have never seen a King Cobra in the hills.

[medicinebox]

I kill ants. I kill cockroaches as well. They both walk around in shit, then trudge through your cornflakes while you sleep. Maybe the cockroaches are getting a raw deal though, and the ants are being spared, just because they are not as grotesque looking as the cockroaches.

Whats more dangerouse? A cockroach or a poisonous viper? So why put the viper safely back outside, and do your bit for the enviroment, but you stamp repeatedly on the cockroach like its on fire, until its a brown circle on the floor.

Its all about what looks easy on the eye. We all discriminate one way or another. If cockroaches were on the verge of extincion, we would still squish them.

Oh who kills gheko's? They shit all over your house as well.