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