Ingnorance Can Be Bliss - Brush With Death

[CharlieH]

Most of us have seen snakes at one time or another while living here, and probably like me tend to be less startled as time does on and no bid deal. I heard the dog going crazy barking today on the back patio, and went to investgate as she had discovered a snake near one of the plant pots, no big deal happened before, get the stick hook it out, pinned it , cut its head off. It was only later when out of curiosity i decided to check what it was as it was more colorful than the usual cobra etc thats I encounter occasionally.

Thats when I realised that I had actually been extremely lucky !! ?.....the snake was in fact a RED HEAD KRAIT and was not dangerous but DEADLY !! .....I wont take a matter of fact attitude again, and it was a good lesson learned never to become complacent about where yiu live and the dangers that can present themselves.

Edited February 24, 2013 by CharlieH

[jamescollister]

Not really a dangerous snake for humans, just another snake. If cooked in olive oil with garlic and spices, very good eating. Jim

[wooloomooloo]

I've been face to face with most and have learned a few things.

1. If it rears up it can't jump - only fall to the distance it stands.

2. It can only strike to the maximum of its fold.

3. I only fear standing on the blighter or being caught by surprise.

Other than that they're wonderful creatures and really don't want a confrontation any less than I do.

[theblether]

Just treat every snake as being equally dangerous and you'll be fine.

I'm not scared of snakes I just don't like them. When I was a wee tubby four year old ( in Sierra Leone ) our serving boy used to have to go out into the garden and check it for snakes before I could go out to play, and he often found constrictors there. Me no likey.

ps.....I agree with Jim.

.

Edited February 24, 2013 by theblether

[jamescollister]

Just treat every snake as being equally dangerous and you'll be fine.

I'm not scared of snakes I just don't like them. When I was a wee tubby four year old ( in Sierra Leone ) our serving boy used to have to go out into the garden and check it for snakes before I could go out to play, and he often found constrictors there. Me no likey.

ps.....I agree with Jim.

.

India I presume. Jim

[wooloomooloo]

War torn Africa, James. You've more to fear from the rebels.

[theblether]

Sierra Leone, West Africa Jim. My Dad was an iron ore engineer in a place called Marampa. We lived in an expat colony of 200 families surrounded by an eight foot fence.

I thought it was to keep the natives out, the security guards told me it was to keep the wildlife out. Obviously West African snakes took fence climbing classes.

It was some experience for me, my parents are amazed at my recall but to be lifted from the streets of Scotland and dropped into the dense African jungle at that age was a Wonderland experience.

[Mosha]

I had (unwittingly) my hand about a foot from Monocelated Cobra. I was feeding the dog, and looked away, when I heard an hiss. My head shot round and it was slithering away. I once also came home and was mobbed by the cats trying to get out. A full grown red tailed rat snake was in the house.

[rattler]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

[BB1955]

I love snakes but only when they are incased in a bottle and sealed tight . Or the prettier ones are the ones I see laying in the road with tire tracks on them .........

[CharlieH]

Sorry to those snake lovers about cutting its head off, but in "my opinion" any snake that can can kill a human should be killed on sight.

If you want to preserve them keep them in a reserve where they dont endanger lives. I dont take any chances.

Edited February 25, 2013 by CharlieH

[geriatrickid]

Sorry to those snake lovers about cutting its head off, but in "my opinion" any snake that can can kill a human should be killed on sight.

If you want to preserve them keep them in a reserve where they dont endanger lives. I dont take any chances.

If you don''t want snakes then I suggest you clean up your yard. The snake you killed eats other snakes, rodents such as rats and mice and supplements its diet with lizards.

[JSixpack]

Move to a high-rise condo. Only have to worry about falling off the balcony, but you can put up a fence.

[TommoPhysicist]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

Cutting it's head off, much too risky, squish it flat with a shovel is the right way to do it.

[jamescollister]

Sorry to those snake lovers about cutting its head off, but in "my opinion" any snake that can can kill a human should be killed on sight.

If you want to preserve them keep them in a reserve where they dont endanger lives. I dont take any chances.

If you don''t want snakes then I suggest you clean up your yard. The snake you killed eats other snakes, rodents such as rats and mice and supplements its diet with lizards.

Would suggest if you don't want snakes don't live in the tropics.

They are just part of life out here in the jungle, get them in the house regularly, as well as all the other crawling things.

Know now why people out here build stilt houses, harder for the baddies to get in. Teach the kids to be wary, but not afraid.

That's life and few people actually die from snake or other bites. FIL spent 3 days on an IV in hospital last year, snake bite, but think it was the bite got infected not the poison.

Know your first aide and your fairly safe. Jim

[Mrjlh]

Must be very proud of yourself for killing a "very rare snake". Although very dangerous due to it's poison, it's too lazy to bite humans.

I'd like to cut off the heads of ignorant humans but I don't! Here learn some more about the animals around you.

Picture: J. Bulian

Bungarus flaviceps (Red-headed Krait)

Thai: ThaiSnakeName-61 (ngu samlaem hua hang daeng)

Length: Up to 210 cm

Occurrence: Southern Thailand from Ranong

Behaviour/habitat:

The Red-headed Krait inhabits the rain forests in mountain and hilly regions. They are hardly ever to be found in humans habitats. This species is very rare. These snakes eat almost exclusively other snakes. Just like the other two Kraits, the Red-headed Krait does not like daylight and is nocturnal. This does not mean that dealing with these snakes during the day is not dangerous. Such animals have also been observed during the day and have even been seen to be eating.

Danger:

Although the Red-headed Krait is too lazy to bite, the poison is very strong and it therefore must be counted as dangerous. In addition, this snake can move very quickly.

[wooloomooloo]

Sorry to those snake lovers about cutting its head off, but in "my opinion" any snake that can can kill a human should be killed on sight.

I agree with James and Mrjlh.

Part of the beauty of LOS is the flora and fauna and were here long before us falangs. They are part of the ecosystem and killing any animal upsets the equilibrium of nature.

We find all sorts here, mainly snakes and scorpions, and encourage them out of the yard to more safer surroundings.

The Krait wasn't intent on killing anyone. You could do worse than visit a well run snake farm and learning about and handling these amazing creatures. You'll come away with far more respect and diminished aversion for nature.

[TommoPhysicist]

We find all sorts here, mainly snakes and scorpions, and encourage them out of the yard to more safer surroundings.

Part of the beauty of LOS is the flora and fauna and were here long before us falangs. They are part of the ecosystem and killing any animal upsets the equilibrium of nature.

The local Thais have eaten almost every indignant mammal into extinction, 'white guys' knocking off a few snakes won't change the ecosystem in any significant way.

PS

Are you suggesting Indians, Chinese, Inuit, Japanese etc. are part of the natural flora and flora of Thailand?

[wooloomooloo]

The local Thais have eaten almost every indignant mammal into extinction, 'white guys' knocking off a few snakes won't change the ecosystem in any significant way.

Eating an indigenous mammal is part of the ecosystem, Tommo.

[TommoPhysicist]

The local Thais have eaten almost every indignant mammal into extinction, 'white guys' knocking off a few snakes won't change the ecosystem in any significant way.

Eating an indigenous mammal is part of the ecosystem, Tommo.

I spend a lot of time in the Jungle, never see any mammals .... all gone, never seen any other country like it.

Anyway, white folk are here to stay, that makes us part of the ecosystem too, whack away, I say.

PS

My kid's one year old, if he caught a snake he would tease it until it bit him. Any snake found on my farm is killed by whoever finds it, then usually eaten. Same as any other Thai villager/farmer would do.

Edited February 25, 2013 by TommoPhysicist

[wooloomooloo]

Whack away, indeed, Tommo. Just make sure you don't miss.

Still, you'll make good fertilizer and return to earth. Nature's peace and harmony restored.

[TommoPhysicist]

Whack away, indeed, Tommo. Just make sure you don't miss.

Still, you'll make good fertilizer and return to earth. Nature's peace and harmony restored.

Not even that much use, Buddhist, will be burnt.

(and before you start, yes I know, not a good Buddhist, I kill things)

Edited February 25, 2013 by TommoPhysicist

[diddums]

Perhaps next time someone is threatened by the op....they might do the same.

Give it space and it would have disapeared.

Hero.

[HeijoshinCool]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

Another posting of extremist views to mediate boredom.

Those of you reading "Rattler's" irresponsible post might want to learn a bit more about the Malaysian Pit Viper, before you take his word for it being a "lovely snake." Could save your life.

[MrWorldwide]

Slightly OT, but I saw 'The Impossible' here in Oz yesterday. When the second wave hit and they were washed into a plantation, my first thought was 'Fantastic - the snakes would be everywhere, completely pissed off and Naomi Watts' character has two gaping wounds dripping blood ..'. There was so much water everywhere that the prospect of crocodile attack also seemed possible, but fortunately for the real life victims my paranoia wasn't reflected in the aftermath of the tsunami in Khao Lak.

I was mostly unmoved by the central drama - a British family struggling to find one another amidst the chaos after the tsunami - but the footage of Thai and Farang kids being driven away in trucks when their next of kin were listed as either dead or missing was considerably harder to take, even if it was patently obvious that many of the tiny child actors didn't have a clue what was going on. The director insisted on zooming in on one Thai girl, a little cutie who couldn't have been more than four - as ham-fisted and blatant as it was, those scenes remain the most poignant of the movie for me. I expected the body count and the utter chaos in the hospital - it's the question of what happened to the survivors that threw me, particularly in a country where family is everything. I guess many of the actual child victims are teenagers by now - I hope they found a family somewhere..

Er, did I say *slightly* OT ? Apologies.

(Kudos to the rescue and medical staff who must have worked obscene hours in a handful of countries after the tsunami - difficult to imagine being an early witness to the carnage in Aceh. 30 metre high 'tidelines' on the cliffs behind some of the towns that were completely razed, 170,000 dead and thousands injured : that's biblical in every sense)

[wooloomooloo]

Not even that much use, Buddhist, will be burnt.

Ash is fertiliser, Tommo.

Edited February 25, 2013 by wooloomooloo

[TommoPhysicist]

Not even that much use, Buddhist, will be burnt.

Ash is fertiliser, Tommo.

You aren't a farmer, are you?

[NoshowJones]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

A lovely snake?????????

[mrtoad]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

A lovely snake?????????

yeah, didn't you know those ole cuddly pit vipers are really misunderstood?

[NoshowJones]

ignorance all right by cutting its head off.

There is no need to kill them, I had a Malayan pit viper on my land, I just caught it and moved it, a lovely snake.

A lovely snake?????????

yeah, didn't you know those ole cuddly pit vipers are really misunderstood?

A cuddly snake?? Oh dear, but of course there are misunderstood. I hate insects and reptiles, but I don't mind geckos, they kill mosquitos.