The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Touching is believing, verily

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 11, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Touching is believing, verily

Staff Reporter

Friends of Snakes Club says not all snakes are poisonous Friends of Snakes Club says not all snakes are poisonous

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE: Friends of Snake conducting an educational workshop at Alliance Francasie in Hyderabad on Saturday. Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Children who attended a lecture on snakes by founder-member and Secretary of Friends of Snakes Club, Raj Kumar, at Alliance Francaise eagerly reached out to touch the venomous and non-venomous snakes that were extended to them.

While Mr. Raj Kumar painstakingly explained that not all snakes are venomous, vice-president and actor, Sai Kiran handled the snakes, which kept slithering down his back.

Harm to eco-system

People who kill snakes under the assumption that they are dangerous only cause harm to the ecosystem, said Mr. Raj Kumar on Saturday.

Of the 52 `technically venomous' snakes, only four -- the cobra, the Russell's viper, the Krait and the saw-scaled viper - pose a direct threat.

While fresh water snakes are non-venomous, sea snakes anywhere are venomous, he said.

Classifications

He classified snakes as arboreal (living on trees), terrestrial, water snakes and subterranean (living underground). Giving examples of each, he demolished misconceptions surrounding them.

The rat snake is commonly mistaken to be a cobra and killed. But contrary to such notions, the rat snake is actually a farmer's friend because it kills rodents.

The wolf snake on the other hand is often mistaken for venomous krait because it has lines across it like the krait.

The green vine snake, the checkered keel back, the red sand boa, the Indian rock python and the trinket snake were some of the other non-venomous snakes that had the people in rapt attention. While a bite by a non-venomous snake needs only to be treated with antiseptic and an ATS shot, a bite by a venomous snake however has to be attended to immediately.

A ligature must be tied above the bite immediately, but care must be taken to loosen the ligature every ten minutes until the victim is taken to hospital and polyvalent anti-venom must be administered soon.

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