Breeding season and summer trigger snake scare in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is facing a snake scare in view of the back to back instances of four persons, including two children, being killed in snake bites.

Experts point out that the chances of snake bites are quite high during this season as it is the snake breeding season and like other animals snakes will also be quite restless owing to the acute summer.

Worsening the scare, in two cases of children being bit by snakes while they were sleeping in their homes. Several small snakes of the common krait species were also found from the house of Aljo Siljo of Thrissur who died following a snake bite. A team of officials of Kerala forest department on Friday carried out a search in the house, but they could not find any snakes.

Assistant conservator of forest in Kerala forest department Mohammed Anvar said that being the breeding season of snakes, the chances of spotting small snakes are quite high. "Even as the quantity of venom in small snakes will be low, the potency of the venom of small smokes will be higher enough even to endanger the life of an adult," he told DH.

The acute summer season also increases the chances of snake bites as snakes could be quite restlessly moving out of burrows. Moreover, being summer vacation for schools children could be more frequently playing in open places, he points out.

Meanwhile, the Sarpa mobile app of the Kerala Forest department has been playing a crucial role in reducing snake bite cases with trained snake rescuers swiftly capturing snakes spotted in human settlements. 

Around 2,000 snakes are being rescued every month by the trained volunteers, who are now 3,600 in numbers across the state. The forest department has been carrying out massive awareness programmes targeting students as well as those working in conditions prone to snake bites. While up to 150 snake bite deaths used to be reported in the state earlier, it came down to around 30 in the recent years. Nearly 76,000 snakes, mostly cobra and rat snakes, were rescued from human settlements and released in forests by Sarpa rescuers since its launch in 2020.

Meanwhile, in the wake of allegations that lapses in medical care led to death of a child Dikshil and a woman Saleena who suffered snake bite on Thursday, the health department is holding a high-level meeting to review the treatment protocols.