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Dude the Frog: He lives inside a round cement pond behind my house. The dark, sinister looking water with rotting mango leaves provides him with the ideal camouflage that merges perfectly with his muddy green skin colour.Phone Numbers: Over the years, I realised that many a times innocent snakes were killed just because I wasn't there or I wasn't able to make it to the far away places of Goa. So I have made a detailed list of phone numbers of snake catchers, spanning the entire state.....
Turtles:
Seven years ago, at two in the night, my dad
and I were walking along the dark deserted
Hi Friend
To kick start the photograph section what better than the Indian Cobra
himself (or herself!)
Know your snake is actually a column that I run in a local newspaper for
educating and familiarising the general public about common Goan snakes.
My idea was to provide two photographs and only a little information about
the snakes dealing with identifying characters, common myths and whether
the snake is venomous or non venomous. I didn't want to bore readers with
names of scales, complex anatomy and the like.
Know your snake.
Snake; Indian Cobra. This snake is the commonest venomous snake found
in Goa. The snake's colour varies from yellowish to brownish. Unlike the
ratsnake the cobra never possesess any olive greenish in its skin colour
and this along with the distinct zig zag white colour netted pattern marking
the body is one of the good distinguishing characters between the two.
The cobra also has a large head (the same thickness as its body), whereas
in the ratsnake the head is only half as thick as its mid-body.
Myth; The snake has several myths associated with it. Some of them are
- that it mates with ratsnakes, that it is known to seek revenge, and
that should a female or male be killed it's mate would take revenge on
the person responsible. These are all false.
Truth; The snake bites only when provoked, it ranks third among the four
venomous snakes that Goa posses in terms of venom toxicity and is probably
the easiest to handle among the four venomous snakes of our country!
best wishes
Rahul Alvares
