Coimbatore: It's chill-out time for snakes. As the mercury dips, snakes seeking warmth slither out of their hideouts and sneak into houses, schools and even offices in Coimbatore.
Girdled by hills and forests, the city has been home for at least 50 varieties of the reptiles, some very beautiful and some very deadly. And monsoon is a busy time for snake catchers and the doctors at the Government Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
About 240 patients with snakebites have been treated at CMCH in the last couple of months, says Dr.S.Dharmalingam, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of the CMCH. At least four patients get bitten by snakes daily.
"Though not alarmingly high, there is an increase in the number of patients being treated with snake bites," the RMO told Deccan Chronicle. Most of the patients are adults from city outskirts. Patients also come from neighbouring Nilgiris and Valparai, and Palakkad.
Why do snakes slither out in the monsoon? Dr V Kalaiarasan, former director of the Chennai Snake Park, says that the burrows and bushes where the snakes live get inundated during the rains. Hence, they move out in search of a cozy warm place.
About 50 snake species, including poisonous ones such as cobra, krait, russell's viper and saw scaled viper, are found in India. These are found even in the urban areas of Coimbatore.
"This is because people throw food waste outside and rodents thrive on that. Snakes feed on them. Also, the frogs that multiply during the monsoon provide plenty of food for the snakes", Dr Kalaiarasan says.
With increasing flow of snakebite patients, the government hospital has stocked adequate vials of anti-venom shots. "It is important to rush the snakebite victim to the hospital within the 'golden hour' to neutralise the venom. Any delay could result in swelling in the area, bleeding manifestation, renal failure and sometimes even multi-organ failure", says the doctor.
Native medicines will not work, asserts deputy director of health Dr S Somasundaram. "Applying anything to the wound externally like it is done in villages is of no use.
The venom could be heamotoxic (affecting blood stream) or neurotoxic (affecting the nervous system) depending on the type of snake", he said. With the availability of a single anti-venom shot that could be administered intravenous, over 90 per cent of the victims can be saved if brought in time, say the doctors.
Next: Call in experts, not amateurs, to catch snakes in houses
Call in experts, not amateurs, to catch snakes in houses
Vidyashree Dharmaraj | DC
Coimbatore: Amateur snake catchers should not be called in to catch snakes entering human habitations, say experts. Youth, who have made a thriving career of catching snakes in Coimbatore, charge not less than '1,000 for a catch.
Public should call up the forest department or the fire services, when snakes are spotted, insist officials. But Coimbatore residents increasingly prefer to call up the amateur snake catchers.
“While it is good news that the awareness that snakes should not be killed at sight has picked up significantly, the bad news is that people no more call the forest or fire department personnel to catch the reptiles.
The media publicity on the budding snake catchers has been a bane as public end up calling these amateurs to nab these poisonous reptiles. They lack training. They not only end up putting their lives at stake, there is no accountability in terms of what happens to the snake thereafter,” said Dr Kalaiarasan, former director of Chennai Snake Park.
Earlier, the VOC Zoological Park in Coimbatore maintained records on the number of snakes that were caught. “But now, these reptiles are rescued by the amateurs and they do not inform the zoo or the forest authorities after their rescue act”, said the zoo director Dr V Ashokan. A 19-year-old snake catcher, Nirmal died of a Russel Viper bite last year and the city’s famous snake rescuer ‘Snake’ Murugan has now given up on catching snakes after a rash of venomous bites.
Next: 3-hr-long, struggle to lure out viper
3-hr-long, struggle to lure out viper
Vidyashree Dharmaraj | DC
Coimbatore: The youth risked his life to rescue a venomous Russel viper that slipped into a well in Othakalmadapam on Coimbatore outskirts recently. The nip and the drizzles had brought the viper out of its burrow in the city.
Twentyseven-year-old snake catcher, K Santhosh Kumar, plunged into the well and pulled out the viper after a three-hour long struggle. In the last eight years, he has rescued as many as 3000 snakes.
Santhosh has been bitten twice-by a poisonous cobra and a viper- but he is not snakeshy. “From childhood I have found it very painful to watch snakes being beaten to death by people. And that prompted me to indulge myself in saving these helpless reptiles”, he said.
“Though I am not professionally trained, I have read a lot about snakes and have been successfully handling them,” he explained also adding that each snake has to be handled differently.
Those rescued have been released in the thickets at Anaikatti. Most of the snakes that Santosh has rescued have been from houses in Kovaipudur, Vadavalli, Cheran Nagar, Periyanaickenpalayam, Thondamuthur and Sulur.
