Snake Rescue in Bangalore, India

Spectacled Cobra: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
July 30th and August 3rd 2015

Species Found:

1. Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja)
2. Russell's Viper (Daboia russelii)

Background:

After returning to Bangalore from my project in Agumbe, I got word that there had been multiple snake sightings in my neighborhood and that snakes were even getting into people's houses. As a result, a Checkered Keelback had been killed in someone's bathroom. I spread the word that I was back in town for a while and would gladly help with any problem snakes.

The Rescues:

Spectacled Cobra-

I had been back home for a little over a week when I got my first call. I woke up to my cell phone ringing at 7:20 am. I was dead sleepy and I groggily answered the phone. As soon as I heard the word "haavu" ("snake" in Kannada), I snapped awake and hastily dressed. The snake was apparently in the bathroom of a house a few doors down from mine. I ran into the house with my snake hook and bag to find a man, a woman and a security guard named Ramesh waiting for me. I asked them exactly what had happened and where the snake was. The man said that he had gone into the bathroom to wash his hands, heard a hissing sound and looked up to see a snake coiled up on the counter behind the toothbrush mug. They didn't know what kind of snake it was so I went in to see for myself. The snake was lying flat on the counter but I could tell from its eyes and the shape of its snout that it was a Spectacled Cobra. I told the family that I would have to close the door in case the snake tried to escape. I asked Ramesh to come in and assist me. First, I cleared all the objects on the counter in front of the snake: the toothbrush mug, a potted plant and a cup. As I moved the objects, the snake started to hood up and go into a defensive posture. It was hissing loudly when my dad showed up and asked if I needed any help. I told him to bring me a pipe and some rubber bands so that I could catch the snake without grabbing it by the neck. The idea was to fix the pipe to the opening of the bag with rubber bands and then coax the snake to "escape" into the dark hole. My dad brought me the material and I placed the pipe and bag on the counter in front of the snake. The snake seemed to think of it as a threat so it kept its eyes fixed on me with its hood raised. I then realized that this snake was not going to try to escape into the pipe as long as it was in such an enclosed space with 2 humans staring at it. I then gave the pipe and bag to Ramesh and told him to be ready with just the bag. The cobra then focused all of its attention on Ramesh. This gave me the opportunity to get the handle of my snake hook behind the cobra's head without it noticing. I slowly moved the stick up the cobra's neck and then down to pin its head against the surface of the counter. I waited for 10 seconds to make sure that the cobra was securely pinned before I moved my right hand in to hold its neck. With my thumb, index and middle finger, I held the cobra's neck and picked it up off the counter. I secured its tail with my left hand and told Ramesh to hold the bag open. I first dropped the tail in and then the head. As soon as the whole snake was in the bag, I twisted the bag and knotted it tightly. I shook hands with Ramesh and walked out triumphantly with the captured snake. The man and woman thanked me and I took the snake back to my house along with my dad.

Snakes need to be released within their home range, which is a few square kilometers, otherwise they get confused and come in conflict with other snakes. I decided to release the cobra in a scrub forest less than 2 kilometers from my house. I had been there before and I knew that there were plenty of rats and not many people. I took the driver, Satish and a gardener, Hanumantha along with me. The plan was to find an open area, get photos of the cobra and then let it go. I found a nice open area with a large tree with plenty of holes near the roots on one side, and a ditch with plenty of rats on the other side. I let the cobra out of the bag and grabbed it by the tail. It desperately tried to escape but when it realized that I was holding its tail, it struck at me a few times. Fortunately, it didn't land a single bite. I wanted it to go into the defensive posture with its hood raised but it was still in escape mode. It took a few minutes but it finally shifted from escape mode to defense mode and raised its hood with its eyes on me. At that time, I pulled out my phone camera and started clicking away. I circled the cobra, taking photos and it followed my every move, spinning while facing me. When I was satisfied with the photos I backed off and let it escape. It slowly dropped its hood and slithered off into the ditch. I'm sure that now the rats in that ditch have a more stressful life.

Spectacled Cobra: PC Yatin Kalki

Spectacled Cobra: PC Yatin Kalki

Spectacled Cobra: PC Yatin Kalki

Spectacled Cobra escaping into ditch: PC Yatin Kalki

Russell's Viper-

I was out at a friend's house at around 9:30 pm when my dad called me saying that the security guards needed me to catch a snake. I knew that I would take at least another half hour to get home so I asked him to go and check it out. He called me a few minutes later saying that the snake apparently escaped into a bush. I still knew that there was a chance that the snake was still around so I rushed home. As soon as I got home, I grabbed my snake hook, bag and flashlight and ran out to the bushes where they had last seen the snake. My dad, a security guard and I searched the whole area but found nothing. I showed the security guards a few photos and they pointed to the Russell's Viper and said that that was the snake they had seen. I told them that it was a highly venomous snake and then they were even more eager to get it out of the area as apparently kids played there. I gave them my phone number and told them to call in case they saw it again. I went into my house and sat down to eat dinner, my phone right beside me. My parents were out on their walk around the community. After about 10 minutes, my phone rang and it was my dad. I picked up the phone and heard the words "snake" and "road". I was already out the door with my gear before my dad was done talking. I ran down the road to find a crowd of around 6 people gathered around a drain on the side of the road. My dad pointed to the drain and showed me the tail of the snake slowly disappearing into it. I immediately grabbed the tail with my left hand and used the hook in my right hand to guide the snake out of the drain. As soon as I could see half of its body, I knew for sure that it was a Russell's Viper, a deadly snake with a fearsome temperament. As I moved it to the center of the road, it hissed loudly and struck at me a few times. Among the crowd was my mom, and she was frantically yelling at me to "let it go" or "be careful". I asked my dad to get the pipe because the snake was clearly in "escape mode". My dad ran home and brought the pipe while I was repeatedly moving the snake away from the drain and back onto the road. I put one end of the pipe into the bag and set it down for the snake to slither into. The ground was uneven and the pipe kept rolling and the snake kept going right next to the pipe. My dad ran back home to get rubber bands for me to fasten the bag to the pipe. In the meantime, I tried guiding the snake's head right in front of the pipe with my hook. It took about 10 tries but the snake finally put its head into the pipe. When its body was about halfway in, I tapped the tail to make it move in faster. I then lifted the pipe and bag, making the snake fall into the bag. With the help of my hook, I twisted and knotted the bag. The people in the crowd clapped and I walked back home with the captured snake. My dad was coming out of the house and I told him that it was done. He sighed with relief.

The next morning I decided to let it go in the same scrub forest that I had left the cobra in. Satish the driver, Ramesh the security guard and I headed into the scrub area with the snake in the bag, the snake hook, a camera and tripod. We found a nice open field with a lot of vegetation on all sides. I set up the tripod with the camera and slowly let the snake out of the bag. From the moment it got out, it was hell bent on escaping. I was hoping it would go into the characteristic Russell's Viper defense posture, with its whole body coiled up with the head at the center, but it did not. However, it was moving very slowly across the sandy ground so I decided to shoot photos of it like that. I got plenty of photos of it on the move before I decided to let it go. I picked it up with my snake hook and carried it to a spot with a lot of vegetation and a few rat holes. It disappeared into the thick grass without a trace.

Russell's Viper: PC Yatin 

Russell's Viper: PC Yatin 

Russell's Viper: PC Yatin 

Russell's Viper: PC Yatin 

Herping in Bangalore, India

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 24th and 25th 2015

Species Found:

1. Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko (Hemidactylus maculatus)
2. Indian Wolf Snake (Lycodon aulicus)
3. Indian Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosa)
4. Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja)
5. Checkered Keelback Water Snake (Xenochropis piscator)
6. Asian Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

The Trip:

I looked for reptiles and amphibians in the areas surrounding my house and found all the species I had found before, in addition to the 6 species listed above.

Less than a kilometer away from my house, there is a large tract of land that is used to house and raise cows, locally called a goshala. The cows live on a small portion of the land while a large area is used to grow hay, and an even larger area is left untouched from where wild grasses are harvested periodically. All of these areas provide great habitat for herpetofauna, especially snakes. Previously, I had visited the cow sheds and the hay fields but the "wild" area was new to me, so I had no idea what to expect.

One morning I was looking around under rocks and in hay piles near the hay fields in the goshala, finding my usual assortment of the lizards, frogs and toads. Soon, 2 locals noticed me and walked over. They asked if I was looking for snakes and I said yes. They said that they knew where to find snakes and asked me to follow them. We walked on a narrow trail and the hay fields gave way to wild, native grass and scrub vegetation. I felt that it would be impossible to find snakes in such dense undergrowth but they seemed to know what they were doing so I followed. While we were walking I learned that these guys liked to see snakes but were afraidd to get too close. We agreed that they would find the snakes and I would catch them. Soon, we came across a shallow but expansive pool of water on our left at the end of a 15 foot slope. The slope was dense with thorny Acacia trees whose branches hung above the water. One of the locals pointed at a tree branch and said "snake". I saw a 6 foot Rat Snake sprawled across the thorny branches above the water. We moved a little closer and the snake started to move down from the tree. I knew that if I wanted to catch this snake I would have to act fast, so I slid down the slope toward the water while the snake reached the gound. Unforunately, my shirt and the skin on my arm got caught in the thorns of an Acacia branch and I was stuck. Meanwhile, the snake slithered into a burrow by the roots of a tree, never to be seen again. I took out my knife and cut the thorns away from me and made my way back up to the trail. I was disappointed that the snake had got away but I knew I would find more. The locals told me that they had to leave but that I should keep looking in the same area as they had seen a variety of snakes there. I too decided to try again another time.

The next day, I came back and started to walk on the same trail. Soon I noticed a snake resting on the trail about 10 meters ahead. I slowly crept forward to get a better look at the snake. There was dense knee-high grass on either side of the trail so I knew that catching this snake would be impossible. I got close enough to see that it was a Spectacled Cobra, basking in the sun, just minding its own business. Its hood was obviously closed but I could tell the species by the coloration and shape of the head. I tried to pull out my phone to take a photo of the snake but the movement of my hand alerted the snake and it quickly disappeared into the grass. I walked on and checked for Rat Snakes in the trees above the water but there were none. I kept walking until I found some rock piles, an awesome place to find reptiles. I started moving some rocks around when I saw a large brown gecko dart into a crevice. I had never seen this species of gecko around here before so I started moving the rocks around where it had gone in. on the underside of one of the rocks that I lifted, I found a small, brightly colored gecko, probably a juvenile of the same species. I quickly caught the gecko and put it in a box so I could photograph it later. I kept on probing for the adult, when I suddenly saw the smooth scales of a snake. I knew that it could either be a harmless Wolf Snake or a deadly Krait so I used a stick to move the rocks that were above it. When I saw the brown body with single white bands I knew it was a Wolf Snake. I used my hands to pick it up and it promptly bit me twice, but I wasn't worried. I put it in a bag to photograph. I kept looking for the adult gecko but it was gone. I found out later that the gecko was a Hemidactylus maculatus, a species usually found at the foothills of the Western Ghats. I took photos of both reptiles and released them where I found them.

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Later that day, a friend told me that there was a Checkered Keelback Water Snake in a pond in his backyard, so I went over to take a look. Checkered Keelbacks are non-venomous but aggressive snakes. I knew I was going to get bitten more than once. The snake was in the water but I could see its body coiled around some lotus leaves. I quickly reached in and grabbed the snake. The moment it's head came out of the water, it promptly bit my wrist and held on. I wasn't fazed so I untangled the snake from the leaves and brought it onto the grass. It was a young female Checkered Keelback, called so because of the pattern on its back. The snake bit me 4 more times before it calmed down and became completely docile. I got some photos and then showed my friend's parents how to hold the snake. I then released ot back into the same pond. I explained that snakes are aggressive for a very short period and that with gentle handling they are quick to calm down. They were keen to learn more and asked me a lot of questions, which was a pleasant surprise. Usually, people are close minded and think the worst when it comes to snakes.

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

That night while I was walking around around with some friends, I saw a bright yellow Asian Toad beside the road. I recognized it as a male in breeding colors, a trait that I had failed to observe in the 8 years that I had been living in Bangalore. Once a year, male Asian Toads become bright yellow to attract females. I put my hand on the toad's back and he made a high pitched chirping noise, confirming my suspicions. Only male toads can vocalize and if a male accidentally mounts another male, the one on the bottom will vocalize to let the other one know that he is not a female. My hand on the toad's back triggered the very same behavior.

Male Asian Toad in Breeding Colors: PC Yatin Kalki

Finding species that I haven't seen before is always a pleasure. Finding them so close to home is even better. Observing a new trait in a familiar species can also be just as interesting.