Snakes I have known, is a nice dramatic title. It makes me sound like a friendly herpetologist. Or like the Russian u00e9migre who rarely went anywhere without her fur coat, dark glasses; and pet snake (allegedly a python) round her neck.
Snakes I have known, is a nice dramatic title. It makes me sound like a friendly herpetologist. Or like the Russian u00e9migre who rarely went anywhere without her fur coat, dark glasses; and pet snake (allegedly a python) round her neck.
But snake lover I am not. The closest I have been with snakes (of which Bangalore had plenty) was by accident.
For years, I lived in the half built up layout next to the graveyard on Nandidurga Road. Needless to say we had snakes aplenty. One day, my driver Ranga came flying up the stairs, rang the bell, hammered on the door. He was trying to say something, his eyes rolling with terror. Tongue tied and gibbering he pointed down to my car which he had been washing. Outside a huge cobra was foaming and spitting through the honeycombed compound wall. On our side was a panting chameleon, which had just escaped being eaten. Quite a terrifying sight.
The largest snake I have ever seen, a ratsnake, lived in a corner of my grandparent's compound (which was wild, full of fruit trees, full of snakes).u00a0 Ratsnakes are quite harmless but impressively large. Our resident ratsnake ponderously circled the old house every afternoon in search of warmth, frogs and rats!
The smallest snake I saw was a viper near Almatti. The farmer I was with, tried to force it into the open with a stick. But the more he prodded, the more it tried to hide in the furrows. (Like my neighbour's son when he doesn't want to get up for school!)
Even cobras avoid dangerous humans, half spreading their hoods in warning. As the city grew, they were forced into holes and bushes along the railway embankments.
One evening, there was a typical Bangalore deluge. Water was streaming down the road, but I had to get my car in before catching a train. (Even in those days, it was unsafe to leave a car out on the road!) As I waded through the flood, uprooted weeds and garbage came washing down. A long disgustingly snaky plant wound around my bare leg (I was in shorts!) Then I realized it was snaky because it was a snake! By reflex, I kicked out my leg. The snake went flying down the drain; and that was that. One rarely sees dangerous snakes in town, any more. Though they can be spotted on Goa beaches, in pleasure resorts, and planes to Delhi.
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
