Not Again!

Today has got to be the most memorable day of my life. I cannot recollect any other event in my entire life that was nearly as bizarre that which transpired late afternoon today, the 26th August. I will start with some relevant backgrounders before I write about the amazing day that was.

I was drawn to photography at a very young age. My father, an avid photographer himself, was the source of inspiration. His encouragement, camera and lenses got me started. Over time and with money in my pocket, I started to build on my photography equipment and got the Nikon D50, a digital SLR (DSLR) camera. A DSLR camera is probably the greatest tool a person like me can have, there is no limit to the number of experiments that I can do to improve my understanding and skills in the field. So, with a mix of old and new, I had begun serious photographic work.

I realized the dearth of equipment for nature photography (which happens to be my primary interest) soon after and decided to invest on a better lens. After months of researching, I decided that the Sigma 50-500MM lens was the one for me. And over a few more months, I built up finances. And today, I bought it.

It was 2:45 PM by the time I got home with my prized possesion. It was a dream come true; the atomosphere was festive from the moment I walked out of the shop with the lens in my hand. Life was feeling good again. I was absolutely elated. All remnant of childhood, when I used to merry around endlessly when I got a new toy.

I opened the packing and needless to say, mounted the lens on to my D50 and started playing with my new toy. I decided to take it to the open and called mom too; I wanted to demonstrate the lens to her and also get a feel for it myself. A couple of minutes went by trying the lens out and we headed inside; mom went back to her chores.

For me however, it was all about the lens, I continued towards the backyard hoping to catch a glimpse and take a few experimental shots of my feathered friends who tend to hang around in search of food. I opened the mesh door and stepped out to the backyard. Instinctively, I turned towards the garden and at the extreme corner saw movement in the grass.

I could not believe my senses at first. It was a cobra that was moving in the grass with its hood up. Not again! I thought; my mind quickly wandered to a couple of months back when I had a similar enocunter. I even went so far as to assume that it was the same snake. Nevertheless, I was surprised to see a snake in the backyard, as, access even for a snake is only through the front in normal cirumstances and to get this far from the front is not easy. This was bizarre.

The all familiar tremors started as adrenaline rushed inside my arteries. But, fascination was much more stronger than the urge for flight; there was no question of fight. I bent down to check if I could get a better glimpse and perhaps a couple of photographs; this provoked the snake and it started to flee towards the front. I made a couple more assumptions; I was now sure that it was the same snake and assumed it had come through to the front and that it was retracing its path.

As I kept clicking away at the fleeing snake, I noticed something more bizarre. It was going on and on and on. This was a huge snake. My assumption that it was the one I had spotted in June was quashed. My next thought was of toby, our dog, whose abode was in the front. What was easily the biggest snake I had ever seen, was heading to the front. All this happened in a few seconds, in which time I had also managed to tell mom about the visitor.

I hurried towards the front just to track its movement. I was hoping against hope that it will quietly slither away to the street. But what actually happened was very different. I saw the snake come to the front. It felt like watching a train go by as it slid into the arrangment of pots next to Toby's Kennel. It then stopped and was re-assessing the situation. It obviously had sensed the presence of Toby; at the same time, 'Shankara' , our gardener along with his 4 year old daugther came visiting. I immediately briefed him on what had just happened. All this commotion sent strong signals to the snake and it decided to go back to the backyard. Again, its passage was like that of a train. By this time, I had begun to have my doubts about the snake, Cobras can never become this big and yet the snake had its hood raised like that of a cobra when I had first spotted it.

Both mom and I hurried to the master bedroom as it has a view of the garden in our backyard. And within a few moments, we spotted it slithering a few feet in front of us. This was the first time mom had seen a wild snake and what a snake to spot!

It did not take long for me to recognize who the visitor was, it had a very well defined eye and a forked tongue that spanned 3 inches each time it smelled the air. It was really huge and it had absolutely no problem whatsoever to raise its hood a few feet in the air (most cobras are only as long as the hooded posture of the snake). It moved with a raised hood too.

I still had fear but my anxiety had vanished the moment it was evident that there was not going to be a confrontation with Toby. Meanwhile, the snake extremely alert and yet as cool as a cucumber was looking for a way out. I kept clicking away from the window, a vantage point as it is permanently closed with a mesh. Within a couple of seconds, the snake had decided the path it is going to take to exit. It started to go out of the field of my view. I requested mom to keep tabs on the garden and immediately headed for the backyard!

I quickly glanced at various settings in my camera as I hurried towards the backyard, my aim was two fold; first, i wanted to reclaim territory and second I wanted to get as many snaps as possible. I opened the backdoor and spotted the snake, it was about 8 feet in front of me. It had already started the ascent to the top of the rear compound which is 7 feet high fort like structure. As I clicked away, the snake vanished into the creeper, camouflaging itself with great guile and elegance. An instant later it reappeared and started moving on the compound wall. I shuffled to get a better view, but it noticed me and receded and with phenomenal agility and completely turned around in a few seconds.

It is at this moment that I got my opportunity to photograph up close. I siezed the chance and did the best I could to capture its portrait. And then it decided that it had enough, in a few extraordinarily smooth serpentine movements it found its way out of the house on to the empty area behind. And there ended what is to date the most fascinating experience of my life.

There is atleast a ten feet drop from the compound wall to the shrubs below on the other side, we were certain all these days that we had secured ourselves. But, the snake had no problem whatsoever to enter our home or to reach the ground and flee. I was absolutely amazed at its strength and capabilities.

In hind sight, the chances of a snake visiting us was high due to habitat destruction that is currently taking place, but to see such a snake in my own backyard was beyond belief. It so happens that, a shrubby area of about 3 acres, which has been essentially undisturbed for decades is being made into a park. About 50 truck loads of mud is being filled everyday to cover the depths of the shrub forest and make the area even. Thereby, instantly destorying the ecology of the place. Evidently, many birds, reptiles and small mammals are losing thier homes to us. Snakes too are facing the same fate.

The prospects are very different for us humans though, we will be occupying one of the last havens for such animals in this part of the Rajarajeshwari Nagar township. Animals, especially snakes are bound to move away. But in the process, will get exposed to both natural and human predation.

The size and health of the snake I spotted speaks volumes of the quality of life it has been leading all along. And for it to grow to such a size, it must be atleast 10 years old if not more. I was hurt thinking about the fate of this extraordinary specimen. It will not be spared if it is spotted. I hope it can getaway before it is spotted. I thought seriously about snake catchers, but, delayed calling them because the snake will be nowhere in sight by the time they arrive. Should I see or hear about it again, the first thing I'm likely to do is to arrange for its safe passage to a wooded forest.

In conclusion, whether it is us or them, adaptability matters most. I do not know what other creatures may come visiting due to the erosion of thier homes. For sure I will secure my home and watch out.

Update: I consulted experts and discovered that the visitor was a huge rat snake (which sometimes resemble king cobra). Apologies for those who got carried away (including me) - First clue is, Bangalore is not even the habitat of King Cobras.

It remains one of my lifetime ambitions to get close enough to watch and photograph a wild king cobra.

If you have the stomach for it - you are welcome to see the pictures of this once in a life time experience,

Follow this link.

Encounter with Naja Naja

It was another routine day until I got home around 7:45PM yesterday; I rang the doorbell and realised that there was no one home.I then called dad to learn that both he and mom were out shopping and that they would return in a few minutes. Knowing there was not much to do but wait, I removed my shoes and for some strange reason, put on slippers, although I had decided to be around till my folks got home.


Toby was looking intently from his kennel, he obviously wanted to be unchained - I went across and let him free when I heard our neighbour's driver talking excitedly.On enquiring, I was told that he had spotted a snake which had decided to rest in thier garden and moved out as soon as it was spotted. The driver suspected that the snake had fled through the gutter. He carried on narrating animatedly two other spottings in the vicinity and of his close shave once when he had almost stepped on a sleeping snake while getting in to the car which was parked under a nearby tree. He then ended the conversation and left as his boss called.


Taking cue from what had just happened, I started to investigate our premises and see if the snake had slipped in to our house. A sodium vapour lamp is installed on the electric pole near the garage gate - this area is well lit and I could not spot anything unusual, but the area around the smaller gate which we usually use to get in and out does not have adequate lighting unless the gate lights are turned on. I was still waiting for the house keys which was with my folks, so, could not turn the lights on or have access to a torch. I decided to go ahead and check the area anyway; I had to make sure it was safe for someone unbeknownst to step into the house.


Dull light turned to darkness as I trode towards the gate which I had just used to get in. I searched in the dark with Toby accompanying me for fun, there was nothing out of the ordinary in and around the walkway from the gate to the doorstep through the garden. I then went to the gate to look out in the street, what I saw next stunned me. A few feet in front of me on the stone slab that covers the culvert was the body of what was definitively a cobra slithering into the gutter. I could see that it was fully grown and huge; as it disappeared, I peered into the darkness below, it was right there and had no clue of my presence.Something more shocking happened next, in a few swift serpentine movements, it started to make it way towards the crevice between the gate and the compound wall.


There are some moments in life when your heart is literally in your mouth. This was not only that, but also a moment when I felt eeriest. Here I am standing a couple of feet away from one of the most feared creatures, it is dark and to add to all this, the snake does not know of my presence.


Cobras are nocturnal, they prefer to stay in cool dark places (like burrows) during the day and venture out at nightfall in search of prey. They do not have a hearing mechanism, instead, they have receptors to sense vibrations on the ground they slither. What they lack in hearing is made up with thier sense of smell, they stick thier tongue out to collect the scents and particles in the air and pass this information to 'Jacobson's organ' for processing. They use this technique effectively to identify both predator and prey. Another vital point about snakes in general is that, they are very defensive, shy creatures; attack is an option only when they cannot flee or if they are harmed by someone stepping on them for example.


But fear momentarily took over and overrode all this knowledge. The snake started to make its way towards me and I started to shoo it away as I would do to a stray dog. A split second later, I collected my thoughts and it occured to me that vibration alerts snakes, I took one slipper out and started to tap the ground hard, this commotion alerted Toby who was a quiet observer till then, he started to bark and sensing movement, headed towards the crevice where the snake was making its way. I pulled him back hard, he probably sensed my fear and receded behind me, I continued to tap the ground; zillion thoughts of what may happen next were floating around in my head, about 10 seconds passed by, my eyes were fixed to the expected area of arrival of the snake into the house, but, nothing happened.


I got up and realized I was trembling big time, the suspense was too much and tremors involuntary. Moving slowly towards the gate, I took a peep at the snake, it had heeded to the warnings and was superbly slithering its way backwards to the gutter with its eyes firmly fixed forwards in anticipation of a predator. I'm pretty sure that it percieved the presence of Toby rather than me and retreated. This time around, it did not lurk around the area but quickly slid to the cover under the stone slabs. Coincidentally, my folks arrived and were stepping out of the car when I warned them about the incident that had just transpired. A few moments later, I saw the snake go back up the gutter retracing its path. We got in the house soon after and secured ourselves.


After fear comes anger, I discussed endlessly about all the pots that were so close to each other in the garden, stuff piled up in the garage and even turned paranoid checking corners and crevices wherever I went. Today morning was not very different, I woke with horrors of finding snakes in the most unlikely places, like they show in the movies. However, I got a grip on things, went out, inspected the snake's path, told the gardner to clean up the place and calmed down.


I realise that such are the risks of cohabitation and one must be careful and alert not to cause harm to self or others.


Wonder what the chances of this happening again are....


Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naja