My Fascination with snakes

 Occasionally I see a snakes slithering away in my backyard. Most of them are rat snakes. They are harmless and non venomous. As weather warms up, the reptiles come out of hibernation. When it rains I can hear a lot of frogs croaking in my backyard and it probably brings out the snakes to complete their food chain.

Snakes have always fascinated me. There are so many myths related to them. They don't drink milk, contrary to the belief of many in India. In fact, milk can damage their digestive track. They swallow their victims whole from tip to toe. Their fangs aren't used to chew, rather attack and paralyze their pray by injecting venom. A snake contrary to the belief of traveling at speed of a galloping horse can only slither maximum at a 5 to 6 miles per hour. In Georgia its illegal to kill non venomous snakes. Nevertheless, they keep nature's balance by eating rhodents.

I always confused the two common varieties of Cobras found in Odisha in general and South East Asia in particular - "NAGA and TAMPA". NAGA is called Spectacled Cobra for its KATHAU (in Odia meaning wooden sandals) mark behind its hood. It is mostly yellowish - brown in color. When it raises its hood, the two circular marks behind its back resemble spectacles sans frame are clearly visible.

In contrast, its cousin TAMPA is called Monocled Cobra, its single circular spot conspicuously visible on its back. It is generally gray or brown in color which is known to fade away as the snake grows older. The monocled Cobra is more aquatic, prefers to be around the paddy fields and ponds, slithering inside the holes at the base of small embankments (called HIDA in Odia) separating the paddy fields and near the ponds, making them its abode as it finds plenty of food in the form of frogs and rhodents like mice in the surrounding areas.

Because of its shrill hiss, the TAMPA or monocled cobra is thought to be very aggressive. There is this popular urban (rather rural) legend in Odisha about the ADHEI KIARIA TAMPA, or the 2 and 1/2 paddy field chasing monocled Cobra. It is rumored that it chases its victim until a distance of 2 and 1/2 paddy fields. If a man outruns the snake till that distance, the snake gives up the chase to man's safety.

Chasing 2 and 1/2 plots of paddy fields is nothing but a figment of imagination. A la any other snake, the monocled cobra is rather shy and elusive in nature. It hisses or bites when feels threatened and gets defensive or hunts for food. Far from being faster than any glalloping horse, a snake's maximum speed on ground is no more than 6 miles (10km) per hour and this cobra is no different.

Snakes have poor eyesight, but have a tremendous sense of movement. The Jackals, being intelligent animal puts its tail inside the holes near the paddy fields and the pond to catch crabs. No sooner than a crab latches on to a jackals tail, it pulls it out of the hole to have its meal.

But sometimes the jackle is bitten by the monocled cobra occupying those holes. The neuotoxic poison has its effect, as the jackel becomes mad, miserably whines around and dies within couple of days. 

As a fitting finale to my blog on Cobras - it will be incomplete without the mentioning the King of Cobras, aptly named as AHIRAAJ or King Cobra. It is known to be 12-15 feet long, sometime reaching 18 feet. It can stand as tall as 5 to 6 feet, staring at a person's eyes. It feeds on larger rhodents and even on its smaller cousins, other varieties of snakes. The venom injected by an adult king Cobra is enough to kill 20 humans and can down out a huge elephant.

Odisha, my home state back home is rich in widelife and uniquely endowed with variety of snakes, including these 3 exotic varieties of NAGA, TAMPA and AHIRAAJ as the icing on the cake. It also has Russell's Virus (Boda) and Common Krait (Rana), both extremely venomous. Yet the majority of the snakes are non venomous. Let's protect this species rather than indiscriminately killing them, as they are important part of maintaining nature's balance.