My First Snake Capture

India has a plethora of snake species and these snakes come in contact with humans very often. The general reaction when people see a snake is fear. Some people immediately try to kill the snake while others respect it enough to give it some space. Being an animal lover, I am appalled by this first category of people. 

At the beginning of monsoon season in Bangalore, human-snake interactions are very frequent. One Spring 6 snakes were killed in 2 weeks, IN MY OWN COMMUNITY!

This was a wake up call for me. I immediately started finding out as much as I could about snakes and actively campaigning for their well-being. I learned how to identify the different species and studied basic capturing techniques. There are professional "snake catchers" that you can call to remove snakes from an area but most are shady. These guys are money minded so instead of releasing the snakes they catch, they sell them to snake charmers or sell their skins.

One day I was with my dog, Paws, in my backyard when Paws randomly started barking at one corner of the wall. There was a greenish-black snake moving on the ground! 

I had seen snakes near my house before but that was before I knew so much about them. My fear was replaced by excitement. I put a large bucket over it to prevent it from going into my neighbor's yard. I wanted to confirm that it wasn't a venomous species before I handled it and I confirmed that it was either a Rat Snake or a Keelback  -both harmless. I made a snake hook out of a coat hanger and a bamboo stick and went out to get the snake.

 

I caught the snake, with its tail in my left hand and its neck in the snake hook, and put it into a large empty garbage can. I inspected it further and found that it was a 3 foot long male. I didn't want to release it where I found it because it would find its way onto someone else's property and they would have it killed. I waited till my Dad came home and asked him what to do. He told me to release it outside the community, close to lake less than a kilometer from my house. We took the garbage can with the snake out of the gate and walked to the lake. I released it with the hook and watched it disappear into the undergrowth.

This incident inspired me to seriously think about snake conservation. Later, I had the honor of meeting Mr. Romulus Whitaker, the leading authority on Indian snakes. He told me that the relocation model wasn't the best one as snakes often traveled long distances to get back to their old territories. He said that the best thing to do is let the snake be where it is, if it isn't an immediate threat. The logic was that since snakes are afraid of humans, if it is unlucky enough to be seen once, it is unlikely to do it again. Mr. Whitaker told me that it was probable that the snake I had released came back to my house. 

I had 2 more encounters with wild snakes after this. I saw a 6 foot Rat Snake in my front yard and I decided to let it go. 2 months after that a cobra was cornered in my neighbor's house and they called a snake catcher to take it away. My neighbors were not ready to let it be and I wasn't allowed to handle it as it was venomous. I couldn't do anything but watch as the snake catcher caught it and took it away in a sack.