Close encounters of the cobra kind
There's nothing like a close encounter with a cobra to add a little excitement to your day. I've had a couple of those while living in Thailand that I'd like to share with you if you are interested.
The first one occurred in Ayutthaya at a bungalow I used to live in out in a rice farming area. While using the computer one afternoon, out the front door I noticed one of our dogs was showing great interest in one of the garden bushes, running around it and barking a lot. In that area it was quite common for us to have Asian water monitors come cruising through the yard, and I thought she may have cornered a small one, so I went to check it out.
Knowing there are venomous snakes here I approached with some degree of caution and took a closer look. What I found was a cobra in the branches of the bush looking me straight in the face. I took a step back to make sure there was plenty of room between me and it, but as I was doing so, the dog ran around to the other side of the bush, and grabbed the cobra by the tail and flung it into the air. The cobra landed on the other side of the bush in a small clearing next to the roadside ditch. It quickly took up a coiled hood extended position facing the attacking dog. Not wanting our dog to become a victim, I did my best to get it to back off, first trying to ward it off with a bamboo pole with the cobra positioned between us. The cobra was intently following the dog's actions and ignored me, which was a good thing because I was within striking range if the snake were to turn around. The dog wouldn't back off so I ended up hurling a dirt clod at it, which finally scared it off.
At this point, some of you might be wondering why I didn't just beat the snake with the pole. Well back in my home country before retiring to Thailand, one of my hobby's was keeping snakes and I had several pythons and a boa. I never kept venomous snakes though, making this encounter something new, and I wanted to spare the snake's life if possible. After the dog was scared off, the snake continued to focus in that direction for a few moments, but did not turn around to see what I was up to. It then lowered its head and cautiously made off for the tall grass at the side of the ditch, and that was the last we saw of it.
Following this little adventure, I did some research to confirm what kind of snake it was, and read up on details about the typical size and habitat they're found in. Markings on the snake confirmed it was a monocled (aka Siamese) cobra. It was about a meter and a half long, the average size for an adult. Wanting to prepare for any future encounters, I also looked into ways to safely capture venomous snakes. I found some instructions for making a simple catcher from PVC pipe and cord, so I went to the local building supply and picked up the materials. It took less than an hour to assemble as the design is very simple. It consists of a length of tube about 2 meters long with PVC caps on the ends. Holes are drilled in the caps; 2 on the catching end and 1 at the end that's held. Through these holes the cord is strung, so you end up with an adjustable loop at one end and the cord extending out the other to pull on. I kept the snake catcher in a handy location ready for the next encounter.
Fast forward 4 years and by then we've moved farther north in central Thailand where we live in a small town. A month ago, there I was at my computer again, and by this time the old dog had passed away and we've got a new one. The new dog is quite high strung and barks a lot, so I did not give it much notice at first that morning when it was making a lot of noise. After a few moments I took notice though, as it was not barking at something outside the gate as usual. Instead it was focusing its attention at the garden and a pair of large ceramic water jugs there. So I decided it might be wise to check it out. At first I thought the dog may have cornered one of the neighbor's cats as she had done before, but as I looked around one of the water jugs, instead of finding another cat, what I saw was the tail end of a snake as it made its way into a gap under one of the water jugs. At this point I recognized the color and scale pattern as being the same as the monocled cobra I encountered in Ayutthaya years before. I got very concerned because our own cat was tethered on a rope just on the other side of that water jug. We normally do not let our cat roam freely as she would likely become a road kill victim or get mauled by a Soi dog.
So now I'm confronted with a dog that's running around in a crazy state, still trying to get at the snake, and the cat that is extremely nervous because it has seen what is lurking a short ways away under the water jug. Add to that a big toad that came out from under the jug because it didn't feel like sharing the same space with a cobra. So my first priority was to secure the dog, which took a few anxious moments to chase down and chain away from the garden. The next priority was to get the cat off the rope and get her into the house. Having accomplished that, I recalled where we stashed the snake catching tool, and got that ready.
Now I have the dilemma of how to retrieve the snake from its hiding place under the water jug. Not wanting to take that on by myself, I grabbed my mobile and headed across the Soi to the neighbors house to get assistance. I placed a quick call to my wife at her office and explained to her what was going on, then I asked her to speak with the neighbor to enlist his help. The neighbor only speaks Thai and I don't know enough to be able to tell him what is going on. After a brief explanation, he knew what was up and followed me over to our yard. I pointed at the water jug the snake was under and gestured that we needed to somehow get to the snake.
The neighbor headed back to his house to retrieve a long pole, and in the meantime I see the snake crawling from the other side of the water jug and heading across an open area of the garden. At this point, I've got the snake catcher in my hands and decide the time is right to try it out. So I lower the loop end gently in front of the cobra so as not to attract its attention. The snake kept on going straight toward the loop and crawled right through it. After it made its way about 15 centimeters through, I cinched down on the cord and found myself with one very startled cobra firmly attached. The cobra quickly wrapped its tail around the pole as a reflex action and turned around to face me in a hood up position.
At this point the neighbor is just getting back to our driveway and he sees me with this cobra on the end of the pole. He got quite excited and called it by the Thai name "ngu hao". I had also grabbed a basket with a hinged and latching top, and was making motions like I wanted to try to drop the cobra into the basket, but the neighbor convinced me through his gestures that maybe this wasn't a very good idea. He also tried to show me that these cobras can spit venom so I needed to watch out for my eyes.
I had asked my wife to tell the neighbor that I did not want to kill the snake if we could avoid it, so he did not make any attempt to try to harm it. Instead we carried it down to the end of the Soi, which has a wall at the end with a farm field on the other side. I put the pole end through a gap in the wall and released the cord. This allowed the cobra to crawl free of the loop, seemingly none the worse for wear, but hopefully a bit wiser about where it ventures.
The neighbor, who has lived in the Soi for more than 30 years, said it had been 10 years since he had last seen one there. I was on an adrenaline high for a few hours after that encounter, and only regretted that I did not have the foresight to snap a photo while all the excitement was going on. Maybe for the next encounter I'll be able to do that. In the meantime, here's a photo of one I found on the internet on a web page that lists dangerous snakes found in Thailand. They call it a monocled cobra because of the single circular marking on the back of its hood. The monocled cobra is sometimes confused with the spectacled cobra that is found elsewhere, which has a two circular markings.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u.../58090/80b.jpg
Cobras are not the only dangerous snakes around this area, as my wife's brother was bitten by a Russell's viper less than a year ago and spent a week in hospital recovering.
