A snake in hand is worth two in bush !

My pet peeves are : anything with more than four legs,
                              creepy crawly things
                               and cold slimy things.

Often when you claim to be an animal lover , people ask you to prove yourself.The first time I had to prove myself was when a chameleon wandered into our hostel .Soon a few boys were ready to squish it under their boots, but not if I had my way first.....

Reptiles are cold-blooded.

It feels unnatural to touch them.
So cold and clammy...and surprisingly smelly !

And I'm a man enough to accept it that I don't like to touch cold and clammy things...

So on that day , to save the chameleon , I had to move beyond my comfort barriers and
touch the chameleon...

I had no plan at hand at that moment...

The boys had surrounded the chameleon and it was darting around afraid , holding onto its dear life...
One of them started taunting me to save it...

Boys will be boys .They still follow a crude tribal hierarchy.
This brat pack which tormenting the chameleon had a leader and he for some reason left (probably to get a stick or something) the scene.

As the alpha male of the group left , the rest of the brat pack left too.

This was it .
It was now or never.
With no pre-conceived plan in my mind , I lunged forward with the intent of rescuing the chameleon.
It was a mad dash and lunge , totally spontaneous , which is probably why it worked and
I caught the chameleon by its long and scaly tail.

With one swift motion I threw it out of an open window , into a bush nearby(We were in
the ground floor of our hostel).

Mission Accomplished !

WhooHoo !



After that incident I realized that I didn't know a thing about reptiles.I had once briefly considered switching careers and becoming a snake-catcher.But I never did learn to catch and handle snakes.I could identify a few local snakes, but thats it.

A few days ago , I had asked the local snake-catcher, Mr.Charles ,to teach me how to
catch snakes .
I haven't gotten any response yet.
But yesterday's circumstances led me towards handling a snake without having ever done so before.

Lets get back to the cuckoo for a moment.
Originally the plan was to teach the cuckoo to be self-sufficient ,and then once it was
old enough to fend for itself , release it .


(The cuckoo and my mom)

That plan never materialized !
Our cuckoo is one lazy bastard(But we all love it dearly)who will not even pick up its food from its plate.It has grown big but still acts like a baby and constantly demands attention , love and huge amounts of food.

We never wanted to keep the cuckoo in a cage.Inspired by the Singapore Zoo, We made a
large net cage that was draped around a low lying chickoo tree.In this way the cuckoo would get used to being outdoors in a natural setting and ultimately help it when we released it.
The cuckoo loved the new netted cage that gave it limited freedom combined with safety and our supervision.

The net cage worked fine for three weeks.Yesterday though , as mom went to feed the cuckoo, she noticed something odd that made her cry out in fear.

There was a snake in the net, which had succeeded in breaching the net .The snake had
made it halfway through towards the blissfully unaware bird.

Mom's shouting alerted dad , who called me to extract the bird to a more secure location(we have a standby metal cage which we never use).
Mom was in shock...
"Get the Bird out  , Save the Bird, do anything , but first save the bird" shouted mom.

Luckily for me , the bird was hungry and had come down to a lower branch , just within my reach.I grabbed the bird and stuffed it in the metal cage.

Now there was another problem...The Snake.

The snake had somehow made a hole in the net and entered.But it didn't take into
account the fact that its body is wider than its head.(Snakes are not too smart).

Our Bird-Eater was stuck in the net !

This snake was a Rat Snake (Ptyas Mucosas) , or what we locals call "Kere Hawu ".The
snake was a young one , olivaceous yellow in colour about a metre long.

Rat snakes are quite agile and can climb trees easily.They  also have long and prehensile
tails which they use to tie a knot and exert a pull on their victim.These  snakes also emit a
foul odour on touch and secrete a black liquid from the anal glands.

We wanted to release the snake , without hurting it.The only way to do that was to cut
the net.I climbed on the compound wall , and stood on the edge precariously balanced
and armed with only a pair of scissors , started cutting the net.

The snake , naturally scared , started panicking and rolling , getting itself more and
more entangled into the net.I had to hold on to its tail to steady it.

Yuck !

Rat Snakes are strong despite their slender appearance.They are muscular
Snakes are not slimy .They are simply cold and leathery.
It feels  like touching a dead fish.
Also Rat snakes emit foul odours !
So it was like touching a dead rotten fish !

I held on to a thrashing rat snake's tail with one hand while extending my other to cut the net with the scissors.Finally the snake was free and I threw it down.
Now came the second problem.A part of the net was still stuck on the snake , choking it slowly.

Mom wouldn't let me handle the snake anymore.(I'm the only child , so she is naturally a bit protective.)So we decided to call the snake-handler's (Mr.Charles) apprentice, a close family friend of ours.

The apprentice agreed to come soon , but the snake was fading .After a bit of haranguing I convinced my mom to let me handle the snake.
Although non-venomous ,rat snakes have very sharp teeth.So I wore thick leather gloves just in case it decided to bite me.

I went close to the snake and carefully held its head.In an instant , its entire body was wrapped around my right arm and its tail thrashing.I had to hold the rest of the body lightly.

The trick to handling snakes is confidence.Shaky hands can make a snake nervous or simply infuriate them.Also , when holding the head , hold it as gently as possible, or else they risk death by suffocation.

I held the snake and steadied its body.Although the entire neighbourhood was present , no one dared to come forward.So mom came with the scissors and began slowly cutting away the net that had been suffocating our snake.

(Dad's not a good photographer , so dont focus on my facial expression .And Yes .I was scared shitless)

Once the net was off , I let the snake go into a stream nearby.
I scurried off and then swam away without as much as a thanks .

The show was over for now.

My arms stank and were covered with a black slimy liquid and I went back inside to wash my hands.

The apprentice arrived as soon as I released the snake, making his appearance completely useless.
But it was a happy ending .No One Got Hurt and everyone went home happy.(The snake went home hungry !)

And the show was truly over for now.