Snakes alive – beware the month of June in Thailand especially in Chonburi!

[Inspire]

Snakes alive – beware the month of June in Thailand especially in Chonburi!

 

 

 

Those you follow the Thai news may remember the flurry of stories about snakes that were told online throughout June last year. In fact as the rainy season started to bite so did the snakes!

 

Chief of the worrying tales was the story of the man who spent several days in hospital after he had his genitals bitten while doing his daily business on a toilet in his house.

 

Following that cautionary tale it seemed that the Thai media were falling over themselves to print every story of a snake in a bathroom or hiding in a house. June in particular was an extremely busy month for the various foundations up and down the country that can be called to deal with problems with serpents of all descriptions.

 

Found in roofs and engine compartments they are often not dangerous just scary. In fact some of the most dangerous ones are the smallest. Hundreds of people are bitten each year in Thailand and it is just as well to take precautions especially if you are doing activities that could surprise the creatures which is when most problems arise.

 

News media Thai Rath online said this week that most bites from snakes occur in the month of June. They published figures from the Department of Public Health that revealed some 2,000 people have been recorded as bitten by snakes over the last three years.

 

There were 1,219 cases in 2014, 457 in 2015 and 234 last year. No explanation was given for the fall in the numbers though it must be stressed that these are only recorded cases and the actual figures are likely to be much higher.

 

In June there were 152, 52 and 31 recorded bites in the last three years respectively.

 

A “guru” of snake bites is vet Thaksa Wesarachaphong who explained why June was a time to take especial care regarding snakes both in Bangkok and up-country. He also spoke of the species that are most responsible for bites in the capital and elsewhere.

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/pattaya/snakes-alive-beware-month-june-thailand-especially-chonburi/

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2017-06-18

 

 

[GaryB1263]

Interesting. Thank You for the post.

[Boss]

Helpful... Thanks !

[Rimmer]

The snake in the picture is a golden tree snake, they climb walls trees and HT and transformer poles  because they are attracted to the hum. They are often called a flying snake because of their ability to glide from tree to tree.

One climbed up to our personal 50KV transformer and got between two phases on the HT side shorting it out and destroying the insulators and clearing the HT fuses. The resulting surge back into the house, blew security camera, computers and aircons, total damage was over 50k baht 

 

We also get Bronzbacks , Black monocled spitting cobras, Kraits and Keelbacks  inside our high walled compound, we can deal with them quite easily as we have snake hooks and nets and simply pick them up and throw them over the wall.  We never kill any of them, they have a place in this world as well.

 

Attached is a picture of the transformer climbing tree snake after it got cooked also a cobra in a net and a Red Necked Keelback

EDIT

as Canuckamuck points out that first one actually a Bronzback see later in the topic for correct picture.

 

Interestingly the local hospital only stock antivenin for Kraits but not for cobras

[stubuzz]

How do you get the snake out of the net?

[Chilon]

A few around Kamphaeng Phet province as well.  Swam past one in the water at the local waterfall a few days ago, almost rode my bike over another yesterday and today there was a small one half in/half out of the water at the same waterfall.   Not sure what type but greyish in colour with a black pattern on the back.

[overherebc]

7 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

How do you get the snake out of the net?

Same way hedgehogs make love, very carefully.

[Rimmer]

14 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

How do you get the snake out of the net?

We slide a piece of plywood under the net then turn the whole lot over, they can then be easily transferred outside the wall and shaken out of the net. The one in the picture is a small cobra but from the day they are born their venom is full strength so don't mess with these guys unless you know how to handle them. Biggest cobra we had was over 2 mtrs long, he went swimming in the pool so he was easy to catch in the pool net.

 

We also have a 2 mtr length of 2" plastic pipe with ends they will also head for that when they think they are threatened.

[observer90210]

4 minutes ago, Rimmer said:

We slide a piece of plywood under the net then turn the whole lot over, they can then be easily transferred outside the wall and shaken out of the net. The one in the picture a small cobra but from the day they are born their venom is full strength so don't mess with these guys unless you know how to handle them. Biggest cobra we had was over 2 mtrs long, he went swimming in the pool so he was easy to catch in the pool net.

kindly allow me to ask in which region/area you live and encounter these creatures of nature?

[Rimmer]

15 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

kindly allow me to ask in which region/area you live and encounter these creatures of nature?

We are about 22km outside of Pattaya on the south side. 

We also had seven of these guys hatch out under the pool deck, they then grew into 2 mtr monsters and ate all the coy carp in the pond, so had to build a big trap for them to get them outside, that is the second picture.

 

[overherebc]

43 minutes ago, Rimmer said:

We slide a piece of plywood under the net then turn the whole lot over, they can then be easily transferred outside the wall and shaken out of the net. The one in the picture is a small cobra but from the day they are born their venom is full strength so don't mess with these guys unless you know how to handle them. Biggest cobra we had was over 2 mtrs long, he went swimming in the pool so he was easy to catch in the pool net.

 

We also have a 2 mtr length of 2" plastic pipe with ends they will also head for that when they think they are threatened.

I've heard that using a box with a couple of feet of pipe 2" diameter leading into the box will do, I presume they are heading for the darkness. Putting one of those sticky rat trap plates in the box gets the smaller ones well stuck. You can then transport them a good distance away, cover them in cooking oil which slowly softens the glue and lets them go free well away from your property.

 

Found this on google

 

Nixalite snake pads.

Edited June 18, 2017 by overherebc

[canuckamuck]

1 hour ago, Rimmer said:

The snake in the picture is a golden tree snake, they climb walls trees and HT and transformer poles  because they are attracted to the hum. They are often called a flying snake because of their ability to glide from tree to tree.

One climbed up to our personal 50KV transformer and got between two phases on the HT side shorting it out and destroying the insulators and clearing the HT fuses. The resulting surge back into the house, blew security camera, computers and aircons, total damage was over 50k baht 

 

We also get Bronzbacks , Black monocled spitting cobras, Kraits and Keelbacks  inside our high walled compound, we can deal with them quite easily as we have snake hooks and nets and simply pick them up and throw them over the wall.  We never kill any of them, they have a place in this world as well.

 

Attached is a picture of the transformer climbing tree snake after it got cooked also a cobra in a net and a Red Necked Keelback

 

Interestingly the local hospital only stock antivenin for Kraits but not for cobras

 

 

Nice pics, but the first one is a bronzeback not a red necked keelback

[MyFriend You]

Pic number three  -  that snake looks dead to me............or playing possum like hog nose snakes in the USA.

[Rimmer]

42 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

Nice pics, but the first one is a bronzeback not a red necked keelback

You are right, I uploaded the wrong picture and never checked it

Here is the one I should have uploaded

EDIT

These guys are also dangerous so do not mess with them or try to keep them as pets 

[david555]

2 hours ago, Rimmer said:

We slide a piece of plywood under the net then turn the whole lot over, they can then be easily transferred outside the wall and shaken out of the net. The one in the picture is a small cobra but from the day they are born their venom is full strength so don't mess with these guys unless you know how to handle them. Biggest cobra we had was over 2 mtrs long, he went swimming in the pool so he was easy to catch in the pool net.

 

We also have a 2 mtr length of 2" plastic pipe with ends they will also head for that when they think they are threatened.

OK. just a pick up truck , Telephone number  & work permit and we have an English understanding experienced Snake catcher for the Farang community  Pattaya region ........leave that mod thing for others ....go save lives ! 

Edited June 18, 2017 by david555

[Nemesis7]

Snakes are really scary 

[Minnie the Minx]

Great pics and info Rimmer.

 

Snakes in Australia, we went on a camping trip to the Myall Lakes up from Sydney years ago, when we pulled up the bush shower a whole nest of very poisonous red bellied black snakes was under that. You need to know what to do in an emergency if a snake bites you too.

 

 

[sandrabbit]

2 hours ago, Rimmer said:

You are right, I uploaded the wrong picture and never checked it

Here is the one I should have uploaded

EDIT

These guys are also dangerous so do not mess with them or try to keep them as pets 

We get these in the garden in Rayong frequently and they don't seem to be bothered by people, nearly always find them with a frog in the mouth. They're known as back fanged so they need to get a good chew on you to get the venom in. We also get Indo-Chinese & oriental rat snakes and they don't half move fast, beautiful looking snakes. Vern of snakes of Thailand website has a pdf of the most common snakes available for download.

Edited June 18, 2017 by sandrabbit

[Rimmer]

3 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Pic number three  -  that snake looks dead to me............or playing possum like hog nose snakes in the USA.

Yes he is dead all right, he is the one that cooked himself on my transformer

[Golden Triangle]

Handy site to belong to if like me you don't know one snake from another 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1690357437927914/?multi_permalinks=1694347234195601&ref=notif&notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1497587925857157

[kimamey]

7 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Pic number three  -  that snake looks dead to me............or playing possum like hog nose snakes in the USA.

This one was playing dead.  I did find out what it was but I can't remember now. 

[kimamey]

I've had these two in the house.  The Golden Tree Snake I've seen before in a hole in the gate when I nearly put my hand on it.  This picture is of one coming into the bedroom from the kitchen which I nearly walked into.  I couldn't get out although I know they aren't supposed to be dangerous to humans I just wasn't  sure about testing the knowledge I'd gained from the Internet. I knew my wife would be home soon so I waited as I thought being Thai should would know exactly what to do.  I'm ashamed that I made that obvious error despite knowing it's usually not the case. Just for reference rolling a water melon at it and throwing chilies at it don't work.

 

It moved to the kitchen and ended up under the sink. My mother in law came in with some of those small yellow candles and some leaves. I was wondering if this was to smoke it out our maybe put it to sleep but she knelt down and prayed.  Not sure if that was the reason but it left of its own accord a little later.

[oldhippy]

Here's a farang trick to keep snakes out of the house: always close the mosquito doors.

Also a good (?) one: catch them and dispose of them on somebody else his property.

 

[sandrabbit]

47 minutes ago, kimamey said:

I've had these two in the house.  The Golden Tree Snake I've seen before in a hole in the gate when I nearly put my hand on it.  This picture is of one coming into the bedroom from the kitchen which I nearly walked into.  I couldn't get out although I know they aren't supposed to be dangerous to humans I just wasn't  sure about testing the knowledge I'd gained from the Internet. I knew my wife would be home soon so I waited as I thought being Thai should would know exactly what to do.  I'm ashamed that I made that obvious error despite knowing it's usually not the case. Just for reference rolling a water melon at it and throwing chilies at it don't work.

 

It moved to the kitchen and ended up under the sink. My mother in law came in with some of those small yellow candles and some leaves. I was wondering if this was to smoke it out our maybe put it to sleep but she knelt down and prayed.  Not sure if that was the reason but it left of its own accord a little later.

according to Vern, snakes of Thailand website the golden tree snake is venomous but not enough to harm a person. the other picture looks like a rat snake, the oriental rat snake but it's not clear enough for me (amateur) to tell. go to snakes of Thailand website and Vern normally answers very quickly about identification. ps sorry for giving wrong info about Vern's website.

 

https://www.thailandsnakes.com

 

maybe 1st picture indo-chinese rat snake instead of oriental, email Vern with pictures and he will identify, very helpful guy.

Edited June 18, 2017 by sandrabbit

[kimamey]

34 minutes ago, sandrabbit said:

according to Vern, snakes of Thailand website the golden tree snake is venomous but not enough to harm a person. the other picture looks like a rat snake, the oriental rat snake but it's not clear enough for me (amateur) to tell. go to snakes of Thailand website and Vern normally answers very quickly about identification. ps sorry for giving wrong info about Vern's website.

 

https://www.thailandsnakes.com

 

maybe 1st picture indo-chinese rat snake instead of oriental, email Vern with pictures and he will identify, very helpful guy.

That's the site I used to find out, it's pretty good.  I thought it was an Indo - Chinese rat snake.  Not very big. I was going to post a picture to show it next to a sore 3 but I can't seem to. 

[The Deerhunter]

Had a "Living Daylights moment" 3 days ago myself.  Went to paint a 5 meter asbestos cement paneled truck gate and had to clean and dust it down first so I took my trusty Bosch mains blower and went to plug in the extension cord.  There is a Local power board  HV pole near the gate with our meter on it and a locked beige plastic junction box with a 2 pin plug socket (for any required mains power jobbies in this part of the property) about 5 ft off the ground, and the wiring for the auto gate lights.  I was standing beside it, not in front of it fortunately and after removing the padlock was struggling with the door catch,  Eventually it unlatched.  It is just an moulded plastic door with an interference fit pair of hooks on the  door at the edge of the body.  Eventually it sprung loose and out fell a somewhat surprised long, thin green & white snake.  It came out in a bundle as it had been rolled up inside the box and was probably taking up  most of the limited space inside and squeezed up against the door.  It was at least a good 1.6 or more metres long and as thin as any of my fingers.  He hit the ground at my feet in a ball, unraveled himself in about one second and headed off 15 metres away and up a Jackfruit tree.   Our electrician must have been out of the plastic junction fittings that go between the knock-out round access ports in these boxes, and the end of the conduit.  There was well enough room for him to slip in beside the two black mains wires and lie against a big "knife" circuit breaker that had visible contacts that he somehow failed to connect.   If I had been standing in front of the box instead of beside it, he would have come out onto my face or chest and absolutely onto my feet.  I shouted "Oh Shit" and disappointed my wife later by not recalling if he had a red tail or not.   I have since checked all the junction boxes and there was one other without those fittings.  All are now blocked by pieces of Roof adhesive tape on both sides, sticking together.  I won't be having that exact experience again.

[sandrabbit]

55 minutes ago, kimamey said:

That's the site I used to find out, it's pretty good.  I thought it was an Indo - Chinese rat snake.  Not very big. I was going to post a picture to show it next to a sore 3 but I can't seem to. 

the rat snakes we get in the garden, frequently, are usually 1 to 2 m long and the last one right outside the kitchen door was an oriental nearly 2m long. we always know when there's a snake in the garden as the buffalo birds, Asian mynah birds, scream their heads off and chase the snakes. we have 2 dogs, the youngest keeps finding red necked keelbacks, and touch wood we haven't any vipers yet. our kitchen door is open all the time and when I go into the kitchen at night I switch the light on before I enter wary of kraits, this is the snake I'm most worried about after living 3 yrs in India.

Edited June 18, 2017 by sandrabbit

[black fox]

thai's kill all snakes; me im not saying they are right or wrong.

[oldhippy]

5 hours ago, black fox said:

thai's kill all snakes; me im not saying they are right or wrong.

Europeans killed all the bears that lived in places that are now called Paris, Brussels,.....

It is the price one has to pay for progress.

I feel safer without them (the bears 555).

 

[sandrabbit]

8 hours ago, black fox said:

thai's kill all snakes; me im not saying they are right or wrong.

yes and usually with a bamboo pole 4m long, they don't like getting too close.