A weekend with Snakes

After a long time, I had the opportunity to do something I have wanted to for a really long time...to attend a herpetology workshop. No, it has nothing to do with herpes and no, it is not the study of your girlfriend's pets either. It is the study of snakes(actually reptiles and amphibians) and being interested in them from my childhood, I signed up, I also signed my will you know..just in case. It was a three day workshop held by Gerry Martin (if you watch National Geographic, you probably recall that he had his own show for sometime). It was at a farm near Hunsur, in a place called Ratnapuri. The farm abuts a lake and this was an ideal habitat for snakes.

Some of you probably have that look on your face which says how can he even like those slimy, disgusting crawling creatures. Hey, I don't like politicians too but we are talking about snakes here, people. Please stay focused.

I was also secretly hoping that one of these snakes would turn into a beautiful damsel. Hindi movies have shown that this is possible and I see no reason to disbelieve them. I know you are thinking "What a dope, he really thinks a snake is going to turn into Sridevi !!!...what if the snake is male ?". I admit, you have a very valid point there but that's a risk I was willing to take.

The three day workshop dealt with the introductory aspects of snake handling. The first day, we had the opportunity to listen to 'snake shyam' (who was also featured on National Geographic). He drives an auto for a living but rescues snakes for a life. He is quite a character, rings on all his fingers, trinkets and chains around his neck and wrists, long locks of hair and a beard and mustache giving his signature looks. He mentioned an amusing incident, apparently in a fancy dress competition one of the kids who had dressed up like him got the first place while the Jawaharlal Nehru costume came in second. Anyway, it was fun listening to his talk.

Over the next couple of days, we got to handle rat snakes, green vine snakes, checkered keelbacks and of course, the cobras. We learnt how to pick up a cobra using a snake hook and then bag it safely. The Russel's Viper though was out of bounds for us. Gerry demonstrated how to bag one but we were not allowed to try. I got to try picking up a rat snake and I did so many mistakes that if it were a cobra and if you were mentioned in my will, you would be rich by now. Later, I also tried bagging a cobra and it was a pretty exhilarating experience for a first timer.

Finally, the three days were over and it was time to head back home. Back to the city, back to traffic and now back to work. It was a great weekend and worth every moment of it.