With Thailand being a tropical country, then it stands to reason that there a whole load of snakes throughout the country, but to be honest, I am not sure just how many species there are. What I do know is that they are not all venomous, but they will all hurt you if they strike and bite.
Around Udon Thani, in a little over 3 years, I have seen just two species of snake. The 'Checkered Keelback' (Left) and a White-lipped Pit Viper (below), of which their are 10 varieties, but not that I can tell them apart.
The Checkered Keelback was the first snake I saw in Udon Thani, about a week after arriving, and it was quite a large one (compared to what I have seen since) being about 2 feet long. The patterned back makes identification of this particular snake quite easy. I have seen perhaps as many as 10-12 in my three years but they would rather avoid human contact and soon scurry off in search of a safe shelter.
The Checkered Keelback was the first snake I saw in Udon Thani, about a week after arriving, and it was quite a large one (compared to what I have seen since) being about 2 feet long. The patterned back makes identification of this particular snake quite easy. I have seen perhaps as many as 10-12 in my three years but they would rather avoid human contact and soon scurry off in search of a safe shelter.
The Viper is a little different, well at least it was on my first encounter with one of them. We returned home one evening at about 9pm, and as we entered the garden, Ong saw the slithery creature and stopped the bike some 15 feet away from it. I jumped off the bike and was more than a little alarmed when this green monster seemed to go in to some kind of frenzy, and actually chasing us round the garden! We had clearly upset its evening somehow, but that was only the start of its problems as Ong chose to grab a long wooden handled tool, and took to battering the snake to death!
Feeling somewhat relieved that the 'savage' reptile was unable to pursue us any further, a tinge of sadness came over me as I actually have something of a soft spot for snakes, especially Pythons. I tried to explain this to the wife, but it seems that most Thai's see them as vermin, and are only too happy to eradicate their existence, whenever the opportunity arises. I wonder if she would try the same if she was to come face to face with and angry Cobra?
Since those two occurrences, which were early on in my life in Udon Thani, we have rarely seen many more, and those we have seen have been juvenile snakes, which our cats and dogs love to play with.
Feeling somewhat relieved that the 'savage' reptile was unable to pursue us any further, a tinge of sadness came over me as I actually have something of a soft spot for snakes, especially Pythons. I tried to explain this to the wife, but it seems that most Thai's see them as vermin, and are only too happy to eradicate their existence, whenever the opportunity arises. I wonder if she would try the same if she was to come face to face with and angry Cobra?
Since those two occurrences, which were early on in my life in Udon Thani, we have rarely seen many more, and those we have seen have been juvenile snakes, which our cats and dogs love to play with.
Images courtesy of Siam Info