DECCAN HERALD (Bangalore, India) 09 August 05 The snake charmers! Aruna Chandaraju talks to some of the modern day snake charmers who either help the snakes live free or make a living out of them.
Snake! It is one word that evokes terror in most people, second only to the cockroach. Not everyone might share the second fear but, I know, most dread the first. Especially when it is found at home. And then they call in the snake-charmer, correction, snake-catcher.
Mohammed Anees, well-known herpetologist, has just enlightened me on the difference. “There is no one who can ‘charm’ a snake, that word is meaningless and should be deleted from the language. Snake catcher is the proper term.”
He says that the snake catchers fall into three categories:
Conservationists or rescuers: They catch a snake in as humane a way as possible, and then release it into a safe habitat like a wildlife sanctuary/forest. There are about 15 in Karnataka. And since they don’t get paid for it and are doing it out of a passion for the snake, they hold regular bread-and-butter jobs.
Pinto and Suleiman in Belgaum, for example, run a video parlour and work as a peon in a hospital respectively while doing snake rescues in an area where a lot of snake species are encountered given the proximity to the Western Ghats. Rodrigues from Yellapur has done innumerable snake rescues too and attributes his learning to a teacher from Kerala. In Karnataka, one generally encounters broadly three varieties of snakes - the cobra (poisonous), the non-poisonous kinds - rat snake, and chequered keelback. In all, there are 20 varieties in Bangalore, and about 190 in Karnataka, including the big venomous poisonous four - cobra, krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper.
Bangalore-based Anees and his team are the best-known conservationists and operate a free-of-cost service. He has relocated roughly 20,000 snakes in the past 17 years. Anees has a great passion and compassion for snakes and the satisfaction of having caught and released one safely is what keeps him going despite it being a thankless job from the point of view of income or even compensation for operational costs which is rarely offered by people.
Costs include transport to and from the home/place where the snake is, snake-bag, torch and battery if it is night time, and commute costs again to and from Bannerghatta Sanctuary where these snakes are released. All besides, the risk to life that a rescuer is taking while making your home snake-free for you. So, how does Anees make a living? He used to make snooker tables and now that demand has fallen, he’s taken to doing interiors with a partner but makes most of his money co-hosting TV films on snakes for Animal Planet and Discovery with liaison work for them.
Those who do it for a living - so-called ‘snake-charmers.’ Most are illiterate or barely educated and it’s generally a hereditary profession. Between Mysore and Bangalore alone there are about 119 families, while the number for Karnataka is approximately 1,000.
They often use crude methods to catch the snak - sticks and snares which often break the snakes spine so when it is released it dies a miserable death. They make about Rs 600 to 800 for a rescue and often further add to it by using the snake for roadside shows for about two, three months - the period which a snake can survive without food or is not treated well. It is finally discarded to die an agonising death from weakness, starvation and possible infections from improper defanging.
More humane methods are adopted by the third group - those employed by animal-welfare organisations which also do snake rescues. Though there is generally no formal training they pick up their skills from the experienced seniors.
A snake-bite is the biggest hazard all categories face. Veeranna whom I met near Chikmagalur told me how his nephew and son gave up the profession when they saw their uncle (Veeranna’s brother) succumb to a bite. Had he suffered any himself? “Yes, but I survive using herbal medicine.” Herpetologists, however, are wary of such claims saying herbal medicines just don’t work. “Probably why we still have 50,000 deaths from snakebite every year,” says Anees.
However, while a venomous snakebite can be fatal, there is anti-venom (ASVS) available for most common Indian venomous snakes except for a few like king cobra. Veeranna does about 15 to 20 cases pm and once got paid a princely Rs 2,000 by a family. “They had twin babies born 14 years after marriage,” he added both as an afterthought and explanation.
So, what is a safe technique? One that does not injure the snake in any way during retrieval or release. Anees has developed the now-famous Anees Bagging technique.
“Here a second person, generally used to hold the bag, isn’t at risk of being bitten during a rescue. A bag with a pipe is kept in place before the rescue operation is begin. The snake is lifted carefully using a hook and placed before the pipe which appears to it like a burrow, so it slithers into it and from here further into the bag where it is held and taken away.”
Anees is the first Indian to have successfully incubated in captivity king-cobra eggs rescued from a destroyed wild nest. Unlike the popular misconception, monsoons are not the season for snakes. He receives about 40 to 50 calls a day in summer compared to one to four in the monsoons. And snakes generally don’t harm/chase/bite you unless you stamp on them accidentally or try to hurt them. A WHO study for 2002-03 reported 2.5 lakh snakebite cases and said 85 per cent happened when the victim attempted to handle or kill the snake.
And, how does one keep a home snake-free? Rats which bring in 90 per cent of the snakes must be kept out, and this means garbage disposal should be prompt. Gardens which offer cover and camouflage should have their grass trimmed and be periodically checked for burrows, etc. Gunny sacks as doormats are dangerous - their brown colour offers perfect camouflage and they provide enough crevices for slithering through.
By the way, now I have a rejoinder for reactions to my cockroach phobia, generally the subject of much mirth among my friends and relatives - “Imagine being terrified of a cockroach!”… That is because I have just learnt that Anees is with me on this one. If someone who lives and works with vipers and king cobras can be terrorised by cockroaches, well…
Sushma Mohan speaks to Dr Ravindranath Aithal who can charm not only the snake but also the venom out of the victims veins.
The first time ever Dr Ravindranath Aithal of Puttur (Dakshina Kannada district) tested the medicine developed by him for snakebite was on himself!
After getting himself bitten by a cobra, he tried the medicine that he had prepared as an herbal remedy for the cobra venom and it worked. After two weeks, he got himself bitten again by a russell’s viper and this time too his medicine proved effective. Today, twenty-two years after his first experiment, Aithal is a well-know expert in the field of research and conservation of snakes and the most sought-after doctor in the State when it comes to snakebites. A service rightly rewarded by this year’s Rajeev Gandhi Parisara Prashasti, the award given by the State Government to those rendering noteworthy service in the field of conservation.
Aithal, who originally hails from Saligrama in Udupi, made Puttur his home 22 years ago when he shifted base to here as a bank employee. A certified homeopath, Aithal, after serving in a co-operative bank in Puttur for five years, quit the job and started practicing Ayurveda medicine, a family tradition he inherited from his mother.
“During that time, except for one Manmath Kumar, Puttur didn’t have anybody who could catch snakes as well as treat snakebites and the people had to go to Mangalore for treatment of the same. Many times it would result in the death of the patient due to the distance between the two places. As a lover of animals, naturally I was interested in what Manmath Kumar was doing and requested him to teach me the art of catching snakes. But he refused saying it was dangerous. Not discouraged by his response, I learnt to catch snakes by just observing him do so. Like Ekalavya I perfected this art without anybody’s guidance,” says Aithal explaining his beginning as a ‘snake-doctor.’
At that time he didn’t have any knowledge about the medicine for snakebite. He studied every book he could find on snakes, observed the cold-blooded animals intently and learnt about their food habit, lifestyle, natural habitat, etc. He also visited the knowledgeable elder people in the interior regions of the taluk to learn more about the snakes found there.
The first time Aithal caught a snake was at his friend’s place. He brought the reptile home and started taking care of it. Thus began his association with snakes and now he looks after 24 pairs of different varieties of snakes in his ‘Sarpaloka’ (a shelter for snakes), including poisonous ones like king cobra, cobra, common krait, hump-nosed pit viper, russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper, malabar pit viper, and non-poisonous snakes like common worm snake, python, brown sand boa, striped keelback, banded racer among others.
In ‘Sarpaloka’ he treats injured reptiles (and later translocates them to nearby wooded area), breeds rare and endangered species of snakes besides treating the patients of snakebite and other ailments. As part of his reptile conservation work, Aithal travels to various parts of the State and even to Kerala, and conducts talks, live demonstrations, audio-visual programmes to educate people on the issue of conservation of reptiles.
In order to create awareness among the people about such blunders, Aithal takes live snakes with him to his public programmes and familiarises people with harmless snakes.
In our State, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts are the prime regions where snake-worship is part of the local culture and tradition. In the rural areas of these two districts one can find many ‘Nagabana’ (a forest region dedicated to snakes). “This kind of worship of snakes cannot be dismissed as a blind belief as if one looks at the geography of the region, snake-worship has helped preserve many forests in these districts and has also led to develop a feeling of respect for nature among the people,” Aithal feels.
Aithal has taken care to make sure that every snake that he keeps in ‘Sarpaloka’ is provided with the same environment as is found in its natural habitat. “The snakes which usually live for 10 years in the natural environment, have lived for more than 15 years in ‘Sarpaloka’ because of the proper care provided to them,” explains Aithal.
Aithal perhaps, is the only person in India who is doing such an amount of extensive work in the field of snakes-related research, medicine and conservation. Till date, Aithal has rescued as many as 120 king cobras among other snakes and has treated more than 3000 cases of snakebite. In order to make his work more effective, he started a non-profitable organisation called Sheshavana Charitable Trust with the support of like-minded friends, five years back.
In the five acres of land which was allotted to the trust by the government recently, Aithal dreams of growing a herbal garden containing rare herbs and plants of all kinds which he says will be the first of its kind to be developed by a single person anywhere in the state, and will contribute towards popularising Ayurveda in the region. In fact he has already developed a beautiful herbal garden of 1.5 acres containing more than 600 varieties of plants of medicinal value.
He also plans to construct a library at ‘Sarpaloka’ in order to provide both the live specimens of snakes as well as complete information about them under one roof. The cost of making his dreams come true would be more than Rs 15 lakh, which he says, is a lot considering his free treatment to poor patients and other works of charity.
His other wish is to bring out a book containing all the information that he has gathered in his 22 years of work in the field of snake conservation as well as a collection of his priceless experiences of working with the reptiles. Besides being known as ‘snake doctor’ Aithal is also popular among the local people as an effective Ayurvedic practitioner. He gives treatment to all kinds of illness except cancer and AIDS. In fact, his treatment for gangrene is said to be very effective and people come from far off places seeking cure for this ailment.
Though several awards have come Aithal’s way, he says, awards alone are of no use unless they provide monetary support for his works. There is a lot that the government could do to strengthen Aithal’s hands in this ecological endeavour. Because here is a person who instead of giving lectures on ecology and conservation, believes in doing something for it!
For further information contact: Dr Ravindranath Aithal, ‘Bana’, Kallare, Puttur taluk, DK dist. Pin – 574201, phone: 08251-232422, cell: 9448545823, website: www.sheshavana.org , email: drsnakeaithal@yahoo.co.in
Every time he goes to attend a snake distress call, Aithal reminds himself that there is a thin line between life and death. And in his 22 years in the field, he has had numerous near death situations like the following one. “Once I had to apply medicine on the wounds of one of the two king cobras at ‘Sarpaloka.’ It was late in the evening and the light in the room was dim.
After placing a divider net to keep myself at a safe distance from the snakes, I got into the box and started applying medicine on the wounded snake. After a few moments I heard a hissing sound behind me. When I turned around, I saw the second snake staring at me with its hood raised, ready to attack at any moment!
In fact in the dark I hadn’t noticed that this snake was outside the safe enclosure. I sat there without moving for more than one hour. It takes only two minutes for king cobra’s venom to kill a human. Six of my friends have died of this snakebite. So, sitting motionless inside that box I knew the death would come any moment. But I guess god was in no mood to end my life that day. One of my patients who came to collect medicine, handed me a stick with which I carefully distracted the snake’s attention from me and could come out of the box with my life intact.”
Aithal says that as the forest regions everywhere are dwindling, snakes are forced to enter human habitats in search of food.
“Once when I had gone to attend a snake distress call, I saw a rat snake eating dead fish from a dried up lake. In another place, a cobra had killed a chicken and the people there, without knowing the reason for its death, had buried the chicken. The snake came there the next day and after digging the dead bird out of the ground, began to swallow it. Snake always eats its prey fresh. It never eats dead animals. This sight of the cobra eating a dead bird made me realise to what extent nature’s food chain has been affected due to urbanisation.”
The snake charmers!