FieldHerpForum

On any given Saturday eve, the herpers seem to outnumber the snakes on Yangmingshan National Park, and last night was no exception. On the way up, we met five or six parties trawling the roadside ditches by bike, car or hiking boot, and although none of them had found anything interesting so far, spirits were high as we wound our way deeper into the park.

At the beginning of our favorite herping road, we bumped into Skink (herpers are like bikers here, nicknames are the real identities ) and a friend of his. The pair had been trying to calm down a nice, fat Multibanded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus) for over two hours already in order to take a decent macro portrait, but there was no end of the snake's stamina in sight. Being the nice guy that I am (and sensing a chance to practice wielding our new & shiny snake hooks and tongs, freshly imported from the States), I offered to play the snake for a while. Twenty minutes later the animal had outlasted me, too, and was still moving around; slowly, but steadily. Not only that, the bastard also toyed with us: every once in a while it would stop, curl up and throw a beautiful pose appropriate for any herpetology calendar. As soon as we had our shots lined up, though, it would uncurl and resume its slow, but steady crawl. Maddening, to say the least.

Then came the cavalry in the shape of a guy and two gals from the Herp Department at the Taipei Zoo Conservation & Research Center, who took over the case in a manner not unlike the FBI in small-town murder cases: they politely told us to step aside and went to work, showing us how the Big City boys & girls roll: they bare-handedly snatched the krait, opened its mouth to show the fangs, extracted a little venom, checked every single scale for parasites, sexed it (female) and eventually tired the beast so thoroughly that we were able to macro it from a few inches distance. Note the yellowish bands near the head. They should be white like the rest, but aren't. Interesting.

After that, we decided to have some fun: my sons had bagged a nice Dinodon rufozonatum earlier, and someone had the brilliant idea to pit both snake-eating species against each other. Bets were furiously organized, beer and popcorn came out of the saddlebags, and we settled down for the Rumble in the Jungle 2009. Alas, it was not meant to be: once the two serpents spotted each other, they immediately hauled ass in opposite directions; and all repeated attempts to get a brawl going ended the same way. Youth today.....no fighting spirit.































Some fat German guy who had crashed the party to get a closer look at what the hubbub was all about. Guess he got more than he bargained for - the T-shirt says it all.

Another great post!
No problem fo sack, na mean?

Asian chicks who freehandle? They'll need to buy snake hooks to beat off the American suitors...and one Canadian

Being "beat off" with a snake hook doesn't sound like much fun. To each his own.

And a great time was had by all...with the exception of the Krait. Do they do that with every snake they find? If so mayby they ought to lop the "Conservation" part off the organizational title. Or mayby I'm just feeling grumpy today but pictures of snakes with their mouths pried open with hooks often make me feel that way. Yes, we know there are fangs in there.

Anyway...not meaning to sound too negative I always enjoy your posts and the neat animals you encounter.

Peter

Only with those they check for parasites, as far as I understand it. The Taipei Zoo has a study of local snake parasites going on in cooperation with Taipei Culture University, and these guys are part of it.


This is where my encyclopedic knowledge of North American slang packs up and leaves me. Explain, silvooplay!

I too like your posts, very interesting to see what is on your side of the pond but free handling a multicinctus

Have them read the account of Joe Slowinski's death in Mynmar in 2001, they might think twice about free handling one of those again...Joe's death was very sad, and pretty horrific, and his bite was from a baby about the diameter of a pencil. It "nicked" his finger with one fang and he was symptomatic in a few hours and dead by the next day...

Many herpers know Joe's story around here. And those who don't get to hear it from me (I've read the "Snake Charmer" three times). Also, almost everyone's highly aware of the various local elapid and viperid venoms and their precise effects and pathology. Still, many believe that the fangs with their name on it have not been born yet

From what I remember of the book, the snake was hanging from the base of his finger for a few seconds, not just a nick with one fang. Either way, freehandling a krait at night is CRAZY!

J.

What's the difference to doing it in broad daylight? I mean, there was no dearth of high-powered flashlights at the scene

That's a beautiful snake.

One thing I really like about your posts, you clearly are sharing your passion with the next generation

Thanks, Funky. About that next generation - let's just say if I ever dare go herping alone they will come into my bedroom at night and strategically place high-voltage electrodes on the softer parts of my body

I was not refering to the book, I was given the breakdown of events by someone who was there...and Joe was bitten in the morning so they are not necessarily more "docile" in the daytime as most are led to believe.


Lat

Really? Who?

It's a common belief in many South East Asian countries that kraits behave like Dr. Jekyll during the day and like Mr. Hyde at night. Then again, they're nocturnal, so maybe they're just sleepier in the daytime.

A fellow researcher named Dr Long who helped me with some Neotoma work up at Steinhardt. He introduced me to Joe and Dong Lin initially, in 2000 I started looking into grad school and during a day in the field Joe graciously offered to chair my committee. He invited me on that ill-fated trip but I was getting married/moving/quitting a job and starting another and could not go with them. I wish I had, he was a good guy.

Such a fascinating, sad story. I wish I could have known Joe. Thanks for setting me straight.

I only met Joe once (very briefly) when he was at LSU and he seemed like a fascinating guy who would have been a lot of fun to hang with. Unfortunatly just that one meeting was enough to convince me that he had a very good chance to end up like he did. Its fine to be a good animal handler (which I'd say he certainly was) but along with that one needs to have an adequate respect for the animals and their capabilities as well as the limits of your own. As Clint said "A man has to know his limitations". I'm not sure Joe ever realized his. Someone who knew him better may disagree but that is the impression I have.

I feel for him but even more I feel for the folks who had to deal with the consequences of his bite and death. I don't know any of them but that had to be a hellish experience.

Hands OFF ought to be ones watchword with venomous animals unless there is a compelling need to have a hold of one. I have worked with venomous critters for 35 years now and I'd bet I have layed hands on one less than 50 times. And knowing then what I know now that would probably shrink to less then 10. Optimum of course would be zero .

Never seen a Krait in the wild but in captivity I have seen them much more active after dark but never messed with them at night to see if they acted more uppity.


Peter