Snake Encounters

I saw it one winter morning when I was on my way to Kalenga forest. Resting on a slim bamboo that floated on a small pond of murky yellow water was a snake. It was soaking in the soft, warm winter sunshine and its bright yellow skin, offset by a black pattern, glistened like gold in the morning light.

Parking at a distance, I very quietly got down from the car and approached it and took a few photographs. It had not sensed my presence yet. I came closer while shooting away. When it finally saw me, it instantly disappeared underwater.

Why was it so afraid of me? Dhora – or the Checkered Keelback – is non-venomous, but it eats fish from fishponds, thereby incurring the wrath of fishermen who see it as a threat to their livelihood.

On another day I had spent several hours searching the haor for birds. It was twilight and I was walking back to my car. Up ahead, I saw a commotion on the path. Several children with sticks were beating something on the ground. Coming closer, I saw it was a small ground snake, non-venomous, and quite dead by now

I am just as terrified of snakes as the next person – nobody wants a poisonous snakebite – but I am also fascinated by their beauty and movement. That’s why I never walk away if there is a chance to see one.

Around a Dhora, I feel comfortable because I have seen it from childhood. Recently I was able to watch a Dhora for several minutes in twilight’s falling light as it went round in circles along the edge of a small pond, bobbing up and down, twisting and turning. It might have been searching for fish, frogs or other food, but perhaps it was simply playing and enjoying itself. I came closer but it was so engrossed that it did not notice me. Eventually I made a noise while shifting in my squatting position and hearing me it immediately disappeared underwater.

Its movements reminded me of Edward Abbey. In Desert Solitaire, his classic book on nature, he describes watching two Gopher Snakes in an exquisite mating dance. As soon as they became aware of him, they ran away, more in embarrassment than fear. He eventually becomes friendly with them.

My most memorable snake encounter occurred in Sundarban. On a monsoon day I was exploring Kotka with my photographer friends. We came upon a large upturned Keora tree complete with a shallow root, spread out in a wide circle and full of cavities and tunnels. Inside the root moved a large black snake. The yellow circle on the back of its head marked it as a Monocled Cobra.

Our group watched it for several minutes as the snake moved in and out of the root’s exposed crevices. Its movements were slow and it seemed not to care about us. Then I saw signs of cracking skin in its face and realized it was moulting, a painful experience for snakes. Perhaps that was why it ignored us that day.

About 80 species of snake have been reported in Bangladesh. Whether I fear them or not, I cannot dispute that they belong to this land and have a right to live here.

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