This is one of the trips I will never forget. The three days I spent in Wayanad were filled with joy and excitement. Most of the time, I spent in the forest trying to find reptiles. I was never lucky. The only reptiles I could find were some Forest Lizards (calotes rouxii). Luckily on the second night, with the help of a friend, I was able to catch a snake. So here’s the complete story.
We left Bangalore on the 19th of April 2012 at around 1:30 am. It was a long journey. My mom’s friend owned a house in Wayanad. It took us 9 hrs. to reach there. As soon as I reached their home, I grabbed my snake stick and ran into the forest. I only spotted some Forest Lizards . Soon I was tired and slept for a while. Later that day, we (i.e. my parents, sister, my mom’s friend Soumya, her brother Sujit, their father and me) took a walk in the forest. Elephants lived here but we didn’t spot any. The only thing I was doing was sticking my snake stick in holes and looking under rocks, hoping to find a snake. We spent an hour in the forest and returned home.
On the second day, Soumya took us to her friend’s house. There was a huge well by the house which had a lot of fish. Everyone tried their luck on the fishing rod while I was hunting for snakes in the paddy field nearby. I spent more than 2 hours there and yet couldn’t find a single snake. I was exhausted and so I quit my search and returned to the well. The rest of them were still fishing. They had caught around 20 fishes. It was afternoon by then, so we returned home for lunch. We then took a short nap. In the evening we went to a river which was less than a kilometer from home. Our friend, Cijo who had lived close to the river had also come there. I wasn’t interested in swimming, so I sat on a rock and took pictures of the others having fun. Cijo had spotted two snakes under a rock which was half submerged under water and called me. It took me nearly 10 minutes to get to the rock cause it was on the other side of the river. When I got there, I just couldn’t believe my eyes. There were two small heads sticking out of the water. They were Checkered Keelbacks. One got away. Cijo and I tried to get hold of the other one but it just wouldn’t come out from under the rock. So Cijo got a long stick and tried to scare the snake. That was a bad idea cause this one escaped too and swum into deeper waters. I was so disappointed. Meanwhile, the others had finished swimming. So we were about to head home. Cijo told me that he had spotted some snakes near the river during the night. So he told me come that night to look for some snakes with him. I was totally exited.
I got ready that night and left to Cijo’s house. My father and Sujit accompanied me. We reached his home at 10:15 pm and started our search in the dark, each holding a flashlight. Cijo went ahead of us and within 15 minutes he caught a snake. My joy knew no bounds. He held the snake by its tail and I caught hold of its neck. Feeling the pressure, it bit my finger. But I wasn’t worried cause it wasn’t venomous. THAT WAS IT. THE FIRST TIME I HAD TOUCHED A SNAKE!!!! I was so happy that I couldn’t stop admiring it. We reached the car and I took a few pictures of me holding the snake. After a “Thank you so much” to Cijo, we left the river. The ride back home with the snake in my hand took about 15 minutes. As soon as I reached home, I showed the snake to my mom. She saw the blood on my finger and kept asking me if I was sure that it wasn’t a cobra or any other venomous snake. I got tired of holding the snake for so long, so I slowly let go of its head. The snake seemed calm for a few seconds but then suddenly, it turned around and bit my thumb. I caught its head immediately. Sujit poured some water in a bucket and I safely put the snake in it. My mom made a hole in the lid and I covered the bucket. I couldn’t get sleep that night cause I was constantly thinking about the snake. By 1 am, I had fallen asleep, thinking I would have a great time with the snake tomorrow.
I woke up at 6 am the next day. Everyone else was still asleep. I brushed my teeth and immediately went out to have a look at the snake. As soon as I opened the lid, the snake jumped out like a spring and hid behind the bucket. I grabbed its tail and lifted it upwards. It crawled back on its own body and managed to bite me with one tooth. I dropped the snake and it started moving under the car. It didn’t come out from under there for a minute. Then I heard a sound from outside the gate, so I looked back. I wasn’t sure what it was. When I turned around and looked under the car, the snake was gone. I started searching around the car. It was nowhere to be found. I searched for more than half an hour and then gave up. I had lost it. So I went back to my bed, totally discouraged. Now that I lost my snake, it was just like any other day. We left for church after some time and came back by 1 pm. After lunch, we went to the river to have some fun. My father, Sujit and I went looking for snakes again. Cijo had left to Madikeri for work. We searched for about 2 hours and went home. I was very tired so I slept till evening. It was almost time to leave Wayanad. We started packing and by 7:15 pm we left for Bangalore. The journey back home was fun. We played a lot of games in the car. It was such a long ride but it didn’t seem so cause we had so much fun. Finally, at 4:30 am on Monday, we reached Bangalore. The memories of Wayanad will always remain in me. Special thanks to Cijo, who gave up his time to help me find the snake and to my dad and Sujit for accompanying me during the search. I also thank God for answering my prayer. |
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Mudumalai
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