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Post by spindrift on Mar 13, 2010 12:07:19 GMT
My Indian friend in Goa told me this story.
Six months ago she employed a teenage girl as a cleaner. She was a lovely and pretty girl. She lived in a cave-like hut on the top of the hill behind my friend's house. One night she attended a village festival which meant that she had to go home alone in the dark. Instead of following the path she ran over the fields.
In her haste she disturbed an unseen cobra. It bit her ankle. The poor child - instead of running down the hill for help she continued to run uphill to her home. Within two minutes of her arrival she died. The act of running had circulated the venom more quickly within her. She might have been saved had she gone the other way.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2010 14:34:35 GMT
That's so sad. I still remember my eldest brother having to kill a Cobra, which tried to attack him out in the farmland, back in India. It can be a dangerous occupation.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 13, 2010 16:01:20 GMT
Being unused to living in India I tend to forget about the potential danger of snakes. The day before yesterday I walked through a deep pile of leaves to get into the car; when I remember snakes I tend to shuffle my feet forward so they can feel my vibrations. Hopefully they would slide away. Do you know they move so fast? Two years ago I saw a pencil-thin (but very long) snake in my gf's garden. I even walked past it and it moved like lightening up and over a wall. It could easily have slipped under my bedroom verandah door in the dead of night; I usually sleep with my doors open because of the intense heat. I feel protected by my mosquito net and tuck it in around the mattress  |
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Post by onlymark on Mar 13, 2010 16:27:52 GMT
Shuffling your feet forward isn't as effective as walking but with a heavier tread.
In places where you believe they might be then walk but take shorter steps, and stamp them down a little more.
The best, but not necessarily the most practical, is obviously not to wear sandals and shorts/skirts, but boots and heavy trousers, even jeans if available.
So I've been advised anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2010 16:35:16 GMT
I grew up in snake country and have always been wary of them; when I was little you checked EVERYTHING in case there was a snake in it. I remember running to the house screaming as a child because there was a snake in the mailbox, lying on top of the mail.
I am happy not to have to worry about snakes anymore.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 13, 2010 16:40:09 GMT
Oh! a snake lying on top of the mail - a shiver went down my spine when I read that  Mark - thanks.... I also shuffle my feet forward through sand when there are stonefish around. I don't like seasnakes either (and I've encountered some in shallow water in the Seychelles and Mombasa) but I'm told they have mouths that don't bite well. Maybe that's not true. |
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Post by onlymark on Mar 13, 2010 17:12:45 GMT
Persistent myths about sea snakes include the mistaken idea that they can't bite very effectively. The truth is that their short fangs (2.5-4.5mm) are adequate to penetrate the skin, and they can open their small mouths wide enough to bite a table top. It is said that even a small snake can bite a man's thigh. Sea snakes can swallow a fish that is more than twice the diameter of their neck.
Oh sheeit!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2010 17:14:10 GMT
It's surprising how many people do die of snake bites each year in India. Over 50,000 a year, from various poisonous snake bites. That is more people than the rest of the countries put together.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 13, 2010 17:22:32 GMT
This week there was a Goan newspaper report that two villagers had died from rabies. Apparently they were bitten weeks ago. One had gone to a hospital but treatment wasn't available so he tried a local 'cure'.
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