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Poisonous snakes are some of their best friends

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

Nothing to fear: R. Kannadhasan feeds a cobra in Puducherry.

PUDUCHERRY: For R. Kannadhasan and his support staff at the Forest Department, snakes are no less than pals.

Involved in rescuing and feeding the snakes, the team members have been trained in handling the reptiles, be it cobras, Russell vipers or pythons.

At present, the Forest Department has a python, 25 cobras and a Russell’s viper. The six-foot-long python is at the department for around a year now.

“The snakes are rescued from residential areas after receiving reports from the public.

“We keep them at the department for two or three days to feed them and check their health condition before releasing them in the wild,” Conservator of Forests P. Devaraj said.

Interestingly, the group members handle the snakes with ease. “We have no fear in handling the snakes,” remarked one of the staff.

Aware of each and every move of the reptiles, including their eating and digestive pattern, they feed the snakes with rats, quails and chicken.

Lifting the cobra in his hand using a specially-designed stick, Mr. Kannadhasan feeds it with pieces of chicken using small sticks.

“We breed rats in the department to feed the python. It takes five days for the snakes to digest the food. So, we feed them once in five days. The snakes are active during night hours and the feed is given in the evenings,” he added.

In fact, the snakes are let out into the lawn on the premises of the department on alternate days for exposure to sunlight.

“The snakes need a minimum of five to 10 days to digest the food. The poison serves as the digestive enzyme for the snakes. They inject the poison in the prey while catching it,” Agriculture Officer of the Department Siva Shanmugam said.

Usually, the snakes are released in wild areas such as Osuteri and Katterikuppam after a few days, he said.

Mr. Devaraj said people were more aware of animal conservation now.

“On spotting a snake, people are not killing it but are calling us. There is good response from the public,” he said.

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