@OldBastard
more from that month
Fun With Snakes Yesterday I saw my first Philippine Cobra. We were standing outside a small sari-sari store. My nephew had parked his motorcycle in front, and my wife and niece were walking up to the store. Suddenly my niece pointed at something, and my wife went absolutely batshit crazy. She jumped, started screaming, and came running towards us like ..... well, like she just saw a snake. The little bastard had gotten under the motorcycle and, maybe attracted by the heat, was starting to explore it. My nephew got a long stick and before the thing could slither off, started whacking it and whacking it until he had pummeled it into a bloody mess. Thank God! Yes, @MarSou, snakes are sentient beings. (Well, maybe. I sometimes have my doubts about reptiles.) And they are very pretty animals. But they are also highly venomous. Behind the sari-sari store is a grassy field where the neighborhood kids play, some of whom are very, very young. A venomous snake loose in that field could be a tragedy. I think about what may have happened had my niece not spotted that snake, and my nephew went to get on his motorcycle. He may have been bitten on the foot as he was getting on, or perhaps he could have sped off down the road with the snake crawling about, only to go into a wild panic upon discovering it while in motion. (Ugh! That's a nightmare scenario!) My nephew concedes that he would have surely wrecked had that occurred. Here's what Wikipedia says about this snake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samar_cobra . Now ours was a teeny little guy, maybe 8 inches long, but even baby venomous snakes can be dangerous, as they already have venom, and of course can bite. He had the characteristic yellow molted pattern on his belly, and a black back, and he looked exactly like the attached pic I swiped from https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/30484-Naja-samarensis . If we had come across a fully grown, 1.5 meter long adult, I believe I would have had to head home immediately and change my pants! To think that when I was a child, I used to wander into the woods near our house and catch garter snakes. But messing around with snakes in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a completely different activity than messing around with snakes in the Philippines, where one accident could land you in the hospital, or worse.
13 comments
I won't like to see a snake in the open but I won't freak out screaming. I have seen one before close enough and decided to just walk away.
I don’t freak out either. Until I realize what the snake is, I’m not afraid of it. But like I wrote, once it was obvious it was a COBRA, I would get very scared. Hopefully I would realize what it was before too late!
I take the safe approach. Any snake I see that doesn't belong where I see, I avoid. I taken a picture with a python around me before. 😎
woa! that was close, omg! while reading I was already visualizing what might have happened. Angels are really protecting us. Glad your nephew saw it and yah what if this creature was out in the fields with the kids, if this is a baby so it means the mommy is just there as well. 🥶🥶 So please do be careful there. My husband way back many years ago also caught a Philippine cobra inside Subic Bay before it was just a pinky's size but he took care of it and grew until its back is as big as a palm when its mad and ready to attack. Then I told my husband that it is already very dangerous because everytime he would place the live food like a mouse, or a teenage chicken (haha don't know what its called 😄) it would fight back and the snake would try to bite and I told him what if you will be the one who will be bitten😯. So we stopped feeding it for 3 weeks with no water, it died.
Never, never, NEVER trust a snake! They have their reputation for a reason. I don't think reptiles ever become "tame" as pets, but I guess there may be some folks here on noise who disagree with me. But personally I would never have a snake for a pet, particularly a venomous one. Your husband is lucky you were able to talk some sense into him.
haha, yah, I guess no one would disagree about having a venomous snake as a pet. Well, if there are maybe they have a fridge full of antivenom😄
Good job there for your nephew! I know It's not good to feel nice for the death of an animal, but if it's between them and people, I surely take people's part!
Amen! I don't wish death on all cobras, but they need to live away from people. Now mosquitoes are a different story. If I could help them go extinct, I'd be doing it right now!
lol same feeling here :)
oh no... good thing your nephew is safe .. i think the grassy part of that sari sari store should be cleaned up...
Yeah, where the grass is high it is gonna be cut.
Your nephew did what he needed to do. Glad it did not end bad for anyone except the snake.
I’m glad he was able to kill it so quickly, without anyone getting in danger.