JOIN USSnake charmers torment reptiles to rake in moolah
On the fifth day of Shravan in July-August every year, millions of devotees celebrate “Naga Panchami”, the festival of snake goddess to seek protection for their families. On this day, tilling of land, digging or ploughing is forbidden.
On “Naga Panchami” women would go to termite mounds and make an offering of milk, eggs and sweets, pray and quietly return home contented. Today, with urbanisation, termite mounds are seldom found. Therefore, now snake charmers bring the “Naga Devata” to homes to help people still follow the rituals of offering milk, eggs and money, to invoke blessings. But most people do not realise that snakes are tormented by the charmers and use barbaric methods before bringing them.
The horrific fact is that a month prior to this festival, snake charmers catch cobras and keep them in small earthen pots or bamboo baskets. The fangs of snakes are brutally scraped off or removed with knives and sickles causing agony to them. Even though snakes can survive without food up to 2 months they require adequate supply of water to stay healthy.
On the festival day, the starved cobras are paraded and taken from house to house for people to offer prayers. Misconceptions are reinforced as the severely dehydrated cobras hesitantly sip milk, which is not a part of their natural diet. They do not have the capacity in their system to break down the lactose in the milk. Given a choice, they would rather drink water instead of milk. Sadly, even when prayers are offered to them, they starve.
Greedy snake charmers after making money from the festival, kill the reptiles and skin them to earn more bucks. Worse, the reptile is skinned alive as it helps in easy removal. Hours or days after, they help snake charmers to rake in moolah, “Naga Devatas” suffer and die a painful death.
India is home to about 275 species of snakes. Of them, 181 are non-venomous and 94 are technically venomous. As many as 34 species of venomous snakes do not have venom potent enough to kill a human being and, by and large, are considered harmless. Nearly 20 species, which are highly poisonous, are in sea and are not considered potential threat. Common cobra, common Krait, Russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper and king cobra are venomous. Red sand boa, common sand boa, common wolf snake, Indian rock python, green vine snake and common cat snake are among the non-venomous type.
The Friends of Snakes Society (FOSC) in Hyderabad, which was launched in 1995, with the help of Andhra Pradesh State Forest Department, is determined to change the way people look at snakes. “We have saved 1,600 snakes in Hyderabad alone till August this year and 2,000 snakes every year, from being killed,” says FOSC General Secretary Avinash Viswanathan.
The 280-member strong non-governmental organisation is spreading awareness about these gravely misunderstood creatures, removing age-old myths and misconceptions about them through live demonstrations. As many as 150 rescued snakes from urban areas were released in reserve forests areas. Also, attempts were on to generate an alternative system of natural pest control using non-venomous snakes in farming. They regularly conduct demonstrations in schools, public and private institutions, community centres, and children camps, organised by the Forest Department, under the eco-tourism programme.
“For instance, in many states, including Andhra Pradesh, the red sand boa is believed to bring wealth and people are ready to spend lakhs of rupees to possess one. People think that it got two heads but it is actually the blunt tail that looks like a head,” Arshad, a member of FOSC, says. The sand boa is slow and mild, making it an easy prey to the poacher.
The volunteers argue: “There is no snake in the world that takes revenge as snakes have a primitive brain and a weak memory and cannot remember any event or any person in particular. Snakes do not have any hearing organ and do not feel airborne vibrations. They move their heads depending on the movements of snake charmer. Snakes will not have “nagamani” or “diamond” on their head when they grow old.”
These issues only find mention in mythologies. There was no proof or evidence to prove them. The FOSC is currently studying the frequency of snake bites as no such study has been made in the country so far. For a fact, most snake bites are caused by non-venomous snakes and casualties are mainly due to shock resulting in cardiac arrest. Of the roughly 3,000 known species of snakes found worldwide, only 15 per cent are considered dangerous to humans. Snakes are most likely to bite when they feel threatened, startled, provoked, or have no means of escape when cornered. The FOSC members spread across the twin cities will reach the spot to rescue a snake at short notice. “We actually do not use equipment that could hurt the soft tissue of the snake. So, our members try to bring back the snake without hurting them. The rescued snakes are fed mice and a veterinarian is available to treat them for injuries,” FOSC members say.
However, all cobras rescued on Naga Panchami day are generally on the edge of certain death and are kept in separate enclosures. “The poachers stitch their mouths or remove fangs, resulting in injury and fungal infection. We have to save them by force feeding nutrients as they can’t eat rats and other small rodents without their fangs,” Avinash says.
Avinash and his team members are hopeful that snakes housed in a part of his home in Saintpaulia will have their own home, probably within six months, as the Andhra Pradesh CM has promised a piece of land for a reptile park.