Sorry for not visiting the forum for a long time. Just a couple of notes of interest on this species, Naja kaouthia (or Naja naja kaouthia, depending on your taxonomic preference).

First: Last month (I see that it did not come up in the news stories that usually appear here), there was a house in my province that had over 100 Naja kaothia hatchlings under it. Maybe all of the females thought it was a nice nesting site? I believe around 34 were taken to Bangkok's snake farm for future venom extractions; the rest were either killed or escaped. Do not remember the exact numbers, but it was about 1/3 in each category.

Second: Today, I received a frantic call about a snake at my sister-in-law's house. Half of its body was sticking out of a small PVC pipe. I slowly pulled out with one hand and carefully positioned the snake stick with the other hand, not knowing what it was until the anterior portion of the body started coming out. It was defintely Naja, but I was afraid it could possibly be Naja siamensis; in my rush, I forgot my glasses for protection. It ended up being Naja kaouthia. When its head came out, made a quick pin, grabbed carefully, took one picture and released hundreds of meters from the closest home.

Sorry about not taking any nice pictures in the field after release, but the little one was in a big hurry to get the hell away from me. It was very mild mannered: no hooding, only a couple light hisses while in the grasp and on release just made a hasty retreat and I only managed a horrible picture as it was racing off.

Cheers,

Michael

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