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Category Archives: snake surveys
Snake Poll Survey Results – What is Thailand’s Most Common Snake?
This poll question has been running for a long time. 182 Readers voted and the results are below.
What is Thailand’s Most Common Snake?
Golden Tree Snake (Chrysopelea ornata) (35%, 63 Votes)
Monocled Cobra (Naja kaouthia) (16%, 30 Votes)
Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) (12%, 21 Votes)
Bronzeback Snake (Dendrelaphis pictus) (9%, 17 Votes)
Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) (8%, 15 Votes)
Red Necked Keelback (Rhabdophis subminiatus) (8%, 15 Votes)
Copperheaded Racer (Coelognathus radiatus) (7%, 13 Votes)
Other? Leave in comments, I may add it to the poll (5%, 8 Votes)
Total Voters: 182
Here’s my list of the 8 most common snakes that I see – day or night:
1. Indo-Chinese Rat Snake (Ptyas korros)
2. Copperheaded Racer (Coelognathus radiata)
3. Keeled Rat Snake (Ptyas carinatus)
4. Golden Tree Snake (Chrysopelea ornata)
5. Red-Necked Keelback (Rhabdophis subminiatus)
6. Red-Tailed Racer (Gonyosoma oxycephalum)
7. Monocled Cobra (Naja kaouthia)
8. Puff-faced Water Snake (Homalopsis buccata)
That’s just what I usually see, doesn’t mean it’s accurate for all of Thailand, in fact, it surely isn’t.
Some weeks I might see 8 Monocled Cobras. Some weeks I might see 10 Golden Tree snakes. It just depends. During certain times of the year I see more of one type of snake than another. Of course daylight and night time hours reveal different active snakes.
I’ll put up another poll, this one has run stale after about a year.
Thanks for voting, check out the sidebar on the right for the next new poll question.
Most Common Thailand Snake? Survey Results…
I’ve had this survey up MUCH too long, but I rarely saw it there on the bottom left side of the page so it was pretty much out of mind.
Below is a graphic for the results after 126 people voted on which is the most common Thailand Snake:
The golden tree snake took first place – and I understand why. There are quite a few of them in Thailand, and if you’re a tourist – these are the snakes you are most likely to see. Golden tree snakes can be found in the bushes outside your house, climbing the outside wall of your hotel, on your balcony, or in the rafters of your bungalow. I have found them in all those places and many more. These snakes are definitely one of the top 5 snakes you are likely to see in Thailand.
Other snakes that I think are in the top five or ten?
Brahminy Blind Snakes – I see these often in my home, near my home, and picking up logs in the forest. They eat termite and ant eggs – and there are plenty of those around, so plenty of these snakes. They often come right up the drain in our restroom.
Copper-headed Racers – these rat snakes are quite common, and if you have garbage near your home, you may have seen one. These snakes lay in wait for rats.
Indo-Chinese Rat Snakes – these are dead ALL OVER the roads in southern Thailand, and also the northeast where I lived before. I guess it’s because they are impulsive snakes. When they are on the move – they just GO, without thinking much apparently. I am sure i’ve seen more of these dead on the roads than any other snake.
Red-necked Keelbacks – these snakes are also – all over the place. I’ve seen them on the side of mountains, and crossing roads numerous times. I’ve found them in water, by water, in bushes just 6 inches above water, and many places.
Monocled cobras – I’ve seen a LOT of these in southern Thailand. They are very common here, and they don’t mind living under your house. This is one of the most dangerous snakes in Thailand, as their venom is very strong, and some of them are very good at tagging you if you’re messing with them.
Ok, that’s about it. I’ll come up with another reader poll in a day or so – have to think about a good topic.
If you have a good topic – do let me know.
Snake Poll – Which is Thailand’s Most Common Snake?
There are some snakes that I see often – and you probably do too if you live here, or visit often and see a lot of snakes in Thailand.
I wonder which is the most common snake – there are a few that I often see. Which do you see the most?
[poll id=”3″]
Snake Poll Results – Best Way to Remove Venomous Snake During Bite?
I’ve had this snake bite poll running for a while now – and it seems like we’ve had good participation… The question was about what is the best way to go about removing a venomous snake from your body if it’s biting down.
The question exactly was, “What is proper way to remove a deadly snake (cobra, krait, coral snake, taipan, etc.) from your finger if it won’t let go”
- Squeeze behind jaw to open the jaw up (70%, 127 Votes)
- Rip it off as fast as possible (10%, 19 Votes)
- Pry the mouth open with something (8%, 14 Votes)
- Run it underwater until it lets go (7%, 13 Votes)
- Blow on it’s face hard (5%, 9 Votes)
I wanted to comment on the answers – not as an expert – AT ALL – but, just from what I’ve read and learned over the years about what to do in the case of a snake bite. I think it’s safe to say that if you are in such a situation – where a deadly snake is biting down on you – and won’t let go… you’re going to go through some serious recovery efforts in the hospital for the next couple weeks – and you might even die as a result. There is no real good answer. Not sure if there is a “correct” answer either – because I have asked 3 notable herpetologists in the field – and a couple guys that are great resources for snakes… and only 1 of them answered the question by email. I know what I would do – but, I’ll save it to the end.
1. Squeeze behind the jaw to open up the mouth…
Venomous snakes have venom sacs behind the eyes on top of the head – very close to where you will be squeezing. If you squeeze wrong, or if the snake twists while you squeeze, you might end up directly squeezing a venom sac and milking the venom right into your hand or wherever the snake is biting.
2. Rip is off as fast as possible…
I wish I had some input from snake experts on this one. Regardless whether I rip the fangs out of the snakes mouth – and embed them in my hand – this would be my first reaction I think. Will more venom be injected as a result – or, would more be injected just doing nothing and letting the snake bite down? Tough call – right?
3. Pry the mouth open with something…
This sounds reasonable, until you realize that the chance to get bitten again becomes much higher. How close will you get to the mouth with your free hand and a screwdriver? What if you slip and it nails you again?
4. Run the snake underwater until it lets go…
Some snakes hold on in spite of that. Then what do you do? You’ve just wasted perhaps 10 more seconds and let the snake bite down for that long – transferring more venom.
5. Blow on it’s face hard…
This might sound funny – but, this is what the guys in Thailand do at the snake shows – if a cobra bites them during the show. They insist it works well. Would it work every time? No idea. They feel good about using this method. I might try it quickly but immediately move to something else if it didn’t work. I think it would cause aggravation to the snake and maybe it would chew you more if you did it. Yes? No idea.
Joe Slowinski – the famous herpetologist that died in Myanmar from a bite by a many banded krait, according to “The Snake Charmer” book about him, once talked with his friend about whether or not they would chop off a finger that was bitten by a deadly snake. I think they were even talking about a krait when they had the conversation. So the book says. Joe didn’t do that when bitten by the juvenile krait on that Myanmar expedition – and died from it hours later with no good medical care.
What would I do?
Knowing that if I use one of the above except #2 – and it doesn’t work – I’ve just let the snake inject even more deadly venom into my body…
I would use a variation of #2. I would find a cloth, rice bag, or rip off my shirt immediately and, bundling it up – grab the front of the mouth of the snake and lift up on the upper jaw – very fast, very hard – ripping it off my body.
I’m sure I couldn’t do something other than an immediate and violent reaction if faced with the snake latched onto me.
Some guys on YouTube say they use Listerine to get snakes off them when they bite down and won’t release. They keep bottles of the stuff around their business for just such an occasion. They show it working with a snake – just a drop.
If it was a deadly snake – I wonder – would a drop do ya? Or, would you start pouring the bottle over it’s head?
Would the Listerine cause any complications with a venomous bite, or, just clean it out?
I’ve heard that it’s best to not touch the bite site at ALL.
So many rumors and opinions about these things.
What would you do? – Leave in comments.
Cheers,
Vern
Thailand Snakes Poll – Whose Tail is This?
Leave your answers in the comments section – answer – whose tail is this?
The first one to get it correct will get use of my “The Snake Charmer” – ebook on Kindle whenever Kindle enables borrowing other people’s ebooks. Michael Cota cannot win because I sent him this image already.