Garden visitors

[Zimbo]

as previously suggested.... stampede

View attachment 1221

Escapng from a French supermarket

 

[Shadrach]

I am having a problem for the first time with my Anggrek( Orchids). Just as the flower stalks are getting nice and long, and the flowers almost starting to bloom, something is climbing half way up the stalk and bitting half way rhrough it, thus killing the stalk? All I see climbing up are small black ants. Is it possible they are biting my flower stalks? I put some ant repellent that is in the white stick form. I hope this stops them, or whatever else is biting my Flower stalks. It's really a drag to see this happen, after waiting months to see the flowers!

 

[Wisnu]

very unexpected visitor found when I flip compost. The Malayan krait or well known as ular weling is extremely venomous and potentially lethal to humans. Its venom contains potent neurotoxins that can cause respiratory failure by paralyzing the muscles used for breathing. I killed it immediately but something still annoy me, this snake is juvenile.
Next task, to find the parent

 

[Bad_azz]

View attachment 5412
very unexpected visitor found when I flip compost. The Malayan krait or well known as ular weling is extremely venomous and potentially lethal to humans. Its venom contains potent neurotoxins that can cause respiratory failure by paralyzing the muscles used for breathing. I killed it immediately but something still annoy me, this snake is juvenile.
Next task, to find the parent

Did you really have to kill it? We get them here, we just sweep them away from the doors. & I'm not dead yet.

 

[Wisnu]

Did you really have to kill it? We get them here, we just sweep them away from the doors. & I'm not dead yet.

Yes, and this isn't the first time. No need to wait victim.
https://www.kompas.tv/article/66556/4-kasus-gigitan-ular-weling-tiga-tewas-satu-selamat
many are not in the news

We don't want this highly venomous snake to simply move. Many village children play nearby, and we often have friends and family visiting us to enjoy our garden. Even if antivenom is available at the nearest hospital, it's no guarantee. You might not like it, but I just poured concrete into the hole I suspect is its nest.

 

[Hawk256]

View attachment 5412
very unexpected visitor found when I flip compost. The Malayan krait or well known as ular weling is extremely venomous and potentially lethal to humans. Its venom contains potent neurotoxins that can cause respiratory failure by paralyzing the muscles used for breathing. I killed it immediately but something still annoy me, this snake is juvenile.
Next task, to find the parent

My SIL had a cobra get into her house shortly after they put a new highway in close by. I had no idea they were here. If I had seen that, I would have likely burned the house down.

 

[Wisnu]

My SIL had a cobra get into her house shortly after they put a new highway in close by. I had no idea they were here. If I had seen that, I would have likely burned the house down.

not very bad idea if you can't find it in the house. don't want this happened
https://www.detik.com/jateng/berita...ninggal-akibat-gigitan-ular-weling-dimakamkan
but call fire brigade first, they are expert in finding and catching snake, probably better than suppressing fire.

 

[Bad_azz]

My SIL had a cobra get into her house shortly after they put a new highway in close by. I had no idea they were here. If I had seen that, I would have likely burned the house down.

Don't worry Hawk- you are far more likely to die on the new highway 10 times more likely.
Statistics doing their thing there.

There are several very venomous snakes in Indonesia, & we see a few species in our garden.
Namely:
Banded krait / Bungarus candidus - these are shy and active at night- contrary to popular belief they do not break in to houses to jump in bed and bite people, they have got into unsecured houses and have snugged up in a warm place (a bed on the floor?) and the person rolled over on it- it bites only in defence)

Coral snake/ ular cabai / Calliophis intestinalis- super toxic and deadly- also beautiful and very shy, the kids here grab them and walk round with them - we wonder why people die from snake bites,this is a perfect example.

Red necked keelback/ ular kepala merah/ Rhabdophis subminiatus- which has just been updated to the venomous category; it is an interesting snake because it secretes the toxins it gets from eating frogs behind its head as a poisonous defence as well as having a venomous bite. I have lots of pics of this and some of my hubby handling it before it got a classification change they hang out in the garden and the steam/ditch outside.

I want to make note that pre my coming to Indonesia I was phobic as all hell about snakes.
Then I lived here and that was a dumb phobia for me to have so I made sure I worked on it..
I learned about each and every species we have here, there are really interesting snakes.
I saw enough of them in the garden that I had to learn management- a long handled broom is perfectly good enough to gently sweep and encourage a snake away. A wet mop is a good way to pin a snake in place whist you go grab a broom- done both haha.
No need to hit or hurt the animal, a snake will happily bugger off rapidly away from a human 99.999% of the time.
I used the broom when the snake was between me and the dog & I wanted to protect the dog and the snake from getting bitten. I wasn't randomly chasing a snake round the garden with a broom- though that does conjour up a cartoon-like meme in my head.
At night if you are going to step outside, ensure lights are on- so you can see where you are about to step- many bites happen just from accidentally stepping on a snake. I speak from experience- I opened the door one night to let the dog out and she jumped outside, I was about to follow and saw the krait right on the doorstep- that then became a broom/wet mop-job as I did not want the dog to see the snake. So now, I keep the dog behind me when I open doors and I check for snakes first- simple step once learned the hard way never forgotten!

Back to statistics and facts:
A snake may well not always waste all their precious venom on a bite on you /humans -they do not see you as prey.
Sometimes they dry bite- hence the fact that in Indonesia there are only on average about 35 deaths a year from venomous snake bites- in a population of 280 million that is tiny.

Try to think of them as dog bite equivalents in the USA- 35- 50 people die each year from dog bites, yet hundreds of thousands get bitten.


@Wisnu The mother snake will be long gone, they do not hang around to rear their young- they just hatch them. All it means is that a nest was nearby weeks ago. The young hatch and are fully independent.
Hunting and killing local wildlife is not really a good thing to do, at best you are just putting yourself in range of a bite if anything. No matter how you try to justify it.
I would strongly advise this:
Use common sense and also learn about the animals, use sensible precautions and then you do not need to go around murdering animals that are in their own environment that humans have encroached on.
It just makes me so sad and disturbed that some people turn to auto-kill like it is some sort of accepatable thing.
Worried about kids in the area, educate them about the snakes.
See one? Walk away.
One in the house? Open the door and do not get between it and the door- it will seek a swift exit. If a snake has an escape route it will take it- for the most part... call in a snake catcher if you need to.

Pit vipers are probably the exception to the rule as they like to sit still and wait for prey to come to them. So look where you put your feet when out walking.
Don't leave doors wide open if you are not prepared for critters coming in.
Snakes follow the scent of rats and mice as their main prey... try to keep the rodents out of the house- a battle I think I have won at my house ... until the next time they come in.

 

[Wisnu]

I'm not worried about myself. I've handled various snakes when I was a student. It's precisely because they're not aggressive that ular weling are extremely dangerous, especially for children and those who accidentally step on them. And there's a consensus here to kill weling snakes. My neighbors certainly wouldn't appreciate it if the snake moved in to their place. And one more thing, the case of a child sleeping at home being bitten by an ular weling and ultimately dying isn't a hoax. I have no hesitation to kill any venomous snakes not endangered species in my garden.

 

[harryopal1]

I can understand Wisnu's anxiety about a poisonous snake and children and his reason for killing the snake. At the same time I generally agree with Ms BA. Snakes can perform an important role in keeping down rats and mice. Most people bitten by snakes in Australia have been bitten when they try and kill the snake. I have been very close to many poisonous red bellied and brown snakes when out in the bush in Australia. They are usually just trying to get out of your way. I have stopped my vehicle to help the odd python off the road and into the bush so they wouldn't get run over. If it is feasible to have a snake removed by a snake handler so much the better but hard to opt for that when you have your small children running around.

 

[Wisnu]

I can understand Wisnu's anxiety about a poisonous snake and children and his reason for killing the snake. At the same time I generally agree with Ms BA. Snakes can perform an important role in keeping down rats and mice. Most people bitten by snakes in Australia have been bitten when they try and kill the snake. I have been very close to many poisonous red bellied and brown snakes when out in the bush in Australia. They are usually just trying to get out of your way. I have stopped my vehicle to help the odd python off the road and into the bush so they wouldn't get run over. If it is feasible to have a snake removed by a snake handler so much the better but hard to opt for that when you have your small children running around.

Harry, I can handle and remove the snake safely as I have the tool, equipment and some basic knowledge though a bit rusty.
but what next,? let it move and hide in my 40 are garden, release to the street nearby or just put into my neighbour yard or sawah without telling them,? I'm too lazy to bring to Bandung.

 

[harryopal1]

Harry, I can handle and remove the snake safely as I have the tool, equipment and some basic knowledge though a bit rusty.
but what next,? let it move and hide in my 40 are garden, release to the street nearby or just put into my neighbour yard or sawah without telling them,? I'm too lazy to bring to Bandung.

Yes, I understand. I am not criticizing your decision.

 

[Bad_azz]

I can see we are never going to agree on this but I am very averse to killing wildlife of any sort, even rats. & Believe me rats are at the top of my ick list cos of the disease they spread and the things they destroy.
At Wisnu's comment re where should I put them- don't put them anywhere because they are everywhere anyhow, just let them go about their business. They don't hide per se, they are just that well camouflaged that we don't see them. No idea what an are is as a unit of measurement, if it is big then assume that it has lots of things in it that you don't want- but if you want a snake free zone you will be hard pressed to find one unless you are up in a high rise apartment.
Also re the krait they can lay up to 14 eggs, so i assume you have had several babies in the area and not even noticed them until recently.
Encourage friends / neighbours to not have a mattress on the floor as a bed. And if really worried about them in the bed, check the bedding before getting in and have it tucked in all around whilst sleeping.

 

[Pak Tani]

Snakes can perform an important role in keeping down rats and mice.

For this reason, I've partnered with a stray cat. She gets two handfuls of delicious Cat Choize from me every day, and in return, she guards our garden, driveway, and surrounding area. She catches all sorts of things, not just rats and mice, but also cicaks, grasshoppers, tokehs, and even small snakes. Highly recommended. Definitely better than a snake that bites you to death if you accidentally step on it.

 

[jstar]

Since the maids are feeding them, stray cars are extremely lazy here. They just watch the rats running by. A dog like a Jack Russel or Teckel does a much better job.

 

[Pak Tani]

Pit vipers are probably the exception to the rule as they like to sit still and wait for prey to come to them. So look where you put your feet when out walking.

A picture from a couple of years ago. This pit viper was hiding on our garden bench. My wife found it when she wanted to rearrange the pillows. A beautiful animal, the bright green color and its triangular head. Pretty aggressive animal.
We've had one inside too with a tail as red as a ripe chilli pepper. Also a welang snake, under the couch.

 

[Wisnu]

... the fact that in Indonesia there are only on average about 35 deaths a year from venomous snake bites- in a population of 280 million that is tiny.

not sure where the 35 deaths figure come from.
A 2022 study in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases estimated the number of snakebites in Indonesia at 135,000 per year. Of these estimated 135,000 cases, 10,547 resulted in death, and 799 resulted in disability or amputation.