The king cobra photos were taken in my place. I kept the adult for months and then released them. The young one was captive-bred.

how and why did you cut its head?

Photo below submitted by Sheila. She writes:

"These snakes were amazing! Very long snakes being very sensual, writhing, coiling, gliding and twisting and rearing up. An extraordinarily beautiful sight. "

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Good shot. Any more pics? What kind of snake? I saw a large rat snake eating a frog near Sheila's last week - must be snake central. (Assuming it's the same Sheila of course.)

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There are a bloomin' lot of charmin' "sheilas" on Lamma but only one named Sheila, as far as I know. She didn't specify which type of snake.

Sheila seems to like ssssnakessss, from her quote above, so they might be attracted to her neighbourhood. And some of her cats might like to play "claws vs fangs"...

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Unfortunately i am not the only person to see snakes around these parts. I see lots of live ones but also too many smashed ones. Almost all the killed ones are non-venomous like the beautiful copper-headed racer.

i do like snakes but from a respectful distance.

I think the big snakes doing the dance are rat snakes.

Lovely pic! it's so muggy now but the snakes still have the desire which is one of the things snakes do better than humans

Ptyas mucosus, or Dhaman ratsnake. called ratsnake but actually they don't belong to the ratsnake genus. and they prefer frogs to rats

IF.. i say if.. i set Lamma the next site for king cobras release i won't have to worry they'll be starving..

Toni,
You might become EXTREMELY unpopular with your neighbours IF.. i say if.. you set Lamma the next site for king cobras release...

They might use the same sticks that they use to beat the cobras to death to hit you as well. King cobras are not really popular with the locals, it seems...

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Nancy wrote...Why?

I would rather kill a poisonous snake than be bitten by a poisonous one. I haven't been bitten but I saw the effects of an envenomated snake bite.
Most times, I have heard, the snake does not penetrate the skin.
It seems sub rational to let venomous snakes cohabit.
Its not a good idea to move them away. I have heard they are territorial and will attempt to return. Thats what I heard. Mind you, depends on how far away they are taken.

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The problem is that most people can't identify the snakes and they just kill any snake they see. Of the 44 species of non-marine snakes in Hong Kong, 31 are non-venomous, 5 are mildly venomous, and 8 are venomous. Five of those 8 venomous snakes probably don't occur on Lamma, unless Tony releases the King cobra here. Since arriving I have seen a lot of snakes (usually at least one a day) when I am out hiking and each time, the snake heads for the hills as quickly as possible, including the cobras. The biggest risk to humans is walking at night without a flashlight and stepping on one. It's just like with mountain lions in California, the more we encroach on what was historically their habitat, the more likely we will come into contact with them.

Snakes are unjustly persecuted and are an important part of the environment. We have encroached on their habitat, not the other way around.
They are not out to get us, humans are not their prey. Most snakes feel the vibration of your approach and will make efforts to avoid you. They strike defensively and would rather live a quiet life without large super-predators like us around. Just avoid putting your hands and feet in places you can't see and you won't surprise one into thinking you are attacking it.

There are ways to catch snakes to relocate using a broom and a long plastic (slippery) rubbish bin or plumbing pipe. i would rather delegate that task to a braver person.

I guess it takes years for a baby snake to grow and there is so little wildlife left, please don't kill them.

I have only ever killed venomous snakes.! I have never liked doing this and regret the necessity.

Snakes are useful as they get rid of rodents.

I agree with you totally, don't kill them - if they are non venomous! If you allow posionous snakes to live close to where you live they will breed and you may eventually get bitten.
If you doubt that wisdom then maybe Toni who expresses knowledge of things reptilian can fill us in on the delightful duet of snake toxins that can kill humans.

I have not heard of the extinction of any snakes yet I do not deny us encroaching on their territories. Ophiophagy is prevelant in Hong Kong and many other cultures - I am surprised there are any snakes left in this region.

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Of more threat to snakes than ophiophagy in most of the world is the killing of snakes because of humans' fear of them. There are studies showing that particular species of venomous snakes are declining because of this killing, such as several of the rattlesnake species in the U.S. There are rattlesnake round-ups every year in places like Texas (where even viler creatures than snakes come from) where hundreds of thousands of snakes are killed for the delight of the rednecks who show up to watch these events. They bring their kids and instill in them this hatred of snakes at a young age. The kids don't know enough to differentiate between a venomous and non-venomous snake and the next generation then kills snakes indiscriminately.

Not that I want any of you wonderful people to move from Lamma, but my thought has always been that you take the good with the bad when you live in the "countryside." You get to see all kinds of birds and a good hike is right out your front door. You can even see the sunset without having highrises in the way. What comes with all the good are some things we need to be cautious of, like snakes. The alternative is to live in the concrete jungles of Hong Kong where the only wildlife you will see are cockroaches.

Thats a shame about the Texans.
There are of course rednecks everywhere, like mosquitoes. However, the nomenclature for them differs from place to place.
I would never consider lamma infested with snakes. I have only seen one live one that fled at my approach and was not adjacent to my house so it was okay.
I am surprised you call this, the countryside. I guess its a relative statement. Compared to Hong Kong island and Kowloon, Lamma is a bit rustic.

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Yes, a relative statement. This was the countriest countryside I could find within a reasonable commute from my work, so I moved here. I am so thankful that I did, centipedes and all.

Submitted by Dr John of CLAW (Charity of Lamma Animal Welfare), trying to counteract the fears with some facts.
This informative piece was written by "turtleconservationist" at the AAPN Yahoo Group::

There are few animals as feared and as hated as the snake. Many campers and summer tourists fear encountering snakes during the summer months. Others dread seeing them in their residential yards or gardens. Some people hate snakes so much that they will kill them on sight when they are encountered.

However, people truly have nothing to fear from these gentle and misunderstood animals. Snakes are very shy, timid, secretive, and generally docile creatures that try to avoid conflict when ever possible. Snakes will not make unprovoked attacks on people. When a person comes in contact with a snake, the snakes' first instinct will be to rapidly flee the area and find shelter. If the snake doesn't't do this, it may just stay perfectly still to try and blend in with the surroundings. If the snake is captured it may still not resort to biting; proof of its gentle demeanor. The snake has a number of other tactics it can resort to as an alternative to biting. The snake may hiss, make mock strikes with a closed mouth, or flail around.

Snakes bites on humans usually only happen when someone is severely agitating and harassing the snake either when cornering it or provoking it.
Almost 80% of snake bites on people happen when someone is trying to capture or kill the snake. All these facts show that snakes are not aggressive or evil animals. If you provoke and capture a wild animal, what can you expect except to be bitten since the animal is going to try and defend itself?

Looking a things perceptively, if you went and grabbed a 'cute and cuddly'
little squirrel off a tree it would certainly bite and scratch you. Snakes are no different. If you leave the snake alone it is almost impossible to be hurt by one!
The other percent of people bitten are those who may accidentally step on a snake in the wild. This too can be easily avoided if care is taking to be as aware as possible when hiking in natural areas and to carefully watch your step. Even if a person is bitten by the snake; in the case of non-venomous snakes the bite is nothing more then a few puncture wounds that rarely requires any more then a disinfectant. When a venomous snake bites a person there is a good chance that the snake didn't't even inject venom. Snakes have venom first and foremost to subdue there prey, since they don't have arms to hold on to it, a means of subduing prey is necessary. The venom also helps the snake digest its meal. When the venom is injected it helps to break the prey down for the snake since snakes don't chew there food, but swallow it whole. We are too big for snakes to eat so the snakes will not want to waste their venom on biting us. Even if the snake does inject venom, proper medical treatment and anti- venom can usually save the persons life.

Only about 0.2% of people bitten by snakes in United States die from the bite. Of this small number of deaths 90% are due to shock, not the actual bite. Similar stats apply to Australia which is home to over 60 kinds of potently venomous snakes. It is estimated to be even less in Europe. As said before, these bites could have easily been avoided. If you do encounter a snake just walk around it and leave it alone, it will not harm you in anyway. If you have a venomous snake living in your yard you can have it relocated by an animal control agency or local humane society. {the snake may leave} The snakes do not need to be needlessly killed! It is very easy to co-exist with these reptiles; snakes should also not be viewed as our enemies but our friends.

Snakes do many useful things for people. First off snakes are great controllers of rodents like rats and mice. Without snakes rodents and some insect populations would sky-rockets and these creatures would destroy crops, effecting our food industries and costing us millions of dollars.

Rodents also spread diseases which could seriously affect our health. Snakes are great at hunting rodents because they can crawl into small burrows and other areas that rodents use as shelters. These places are too small for other animals to get into. Secondly snakes are saving the lives of millions of people every year. Snake venom is being used in the medical field to treat all sorts of aliments like heart & stroke disease, cancer, Parkinson's, blood clots, and more. Heart and stroke disease alone kills around 16 million people every year. So snakes are helping to make medicine that could save millions.

Despite this countless snakes are brutally killed every year by people!
There are now over 60 species of snake listed on the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species.

We must look past our fear and ignorance and see snakes for what they really are, interesting creatures that play very important roles in the eco-system.
Snakes are also stunningly beautiful animals that come in an astounding array of gorgeous colors and exquisite patterns. A fear of snakes is inherent, so we must learn not to pass our irrational fears on to our children. It is an awful thing to live in fear. When we look past our fears we can then see the snake as a friend, not a fiend. I hope everyone that reads this will take the time to pass it along to others. Snakes have no voice in which to speak. This makes it important for those who do care to stand up and speak for those who can not do it for themselves! Let others know how the snake is our friend, not a fiend!

For information on How You Can Help Snakes please see:
Http://www.savethesnakes101.co.nr

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I have to show the beautiful side of snakes.

although snakes are solitary, when they come together they show a lot of innocent love towards each other. People should learn from these nature beauties.

one more



snakes rule!

Did you know many significant medicines nowadays were made from snake venom? probably you have used som already.

You have not heard of the extinction of any snakes yet because those species were too rare to be known by the general public. Not to talk about worldwide, only in HK and china there are a lot of critically endangered snakes. Some of them are rarer than wild pandas.

There are fellows anywhere on earth who hate snakes, no matter how many times they're told about the true facts about snakes.

The fact is that this problem is worse in the developing countries and low-educated communites.

If I hate someone at least I know him well then I would have a reason why I would have to hate him. but it's getting funny. Many fellows just hate snakes so so much.. but... they actually never encounter a real snake, let alone to handle one. Where's the fear come from? rumors. only the dark side's spread over for these poor legless buddies.

I have got many people who hated snakes to handle a snake in front of me. During the process, most of them naturally reduced their hate or fear towards snakes in as quick as a couple minutes. many turned out to be a snake lover now.

So what about snake soup lovers in HK? Are these snakes - all imported from the mainland, I believe? - endangered as well?

Lammadonna is just inviting all Lammaites to join a snake dinner next month, for a very low subsidised prize of $125. It'll include steamed and fried snake and other snake dishes, not just soup. I hear from Lamma-Por that they've already reserved 12 tables... It's promoted in Chinese only and no foreigners are usually present at these outings.

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nowadays you can't really see snakes being chopped live taking out their galls next to a public playground. people just swallowed the gall whole and blood was all over the ground. while most of the snakes were still awake for hours before death.

now most snake shops don't really have live snakes in their shops. They use frozen snake meat from mainland china. A couple famous snake shops still have live snakes in their shop. Those snakes are imported from malaysia or indonesia - which are more expensive than the chinese ones.

there are not many but a few endangered species included in the snake menu - but they are among the most expensive ones. If you go for only $125, I guess you are gonna eat some common ones like the indochinese ratsnakes many of you have seen on lamma, or water snakes, or other small potatos.

HK is much more decent. In china they still eat a lot of really wild ones

btw.. it's believed that snakes will heat your body up... well so.. if you're too hot already you'll have a problem