At present, only five orders of reptiles out of 15 are surviving in the world; and they consist of 6,000 species. All the reptiles live either on land or in water. But there is another type of reptile, which is known as Dracovolans, a lizard which shows flying motion in the air. The ophidians are the creeping animals generally known as flying snakes.
On August 19, 1999, a news was published about the discovery of a flying snake of 6 feet length, which can jump from one tree to other of 15 to 20 feet distances and easily catch the birds of prey, in Anandpur forests of Keonjhar district.
The snake lays eggs on the trees. It is a flat reptile like a cycle tube without air. It looks black. There are patches of white spots over its black body. It has mimicry habits. It has bifurcated tongue like snake. A retired teacher of Anandpur could capture the reptile from the bank of the Baitarani river. This is a rare species. There should be proper investigations on the reptile.
The whole Keonjhar district is rich in flora and fauna. The Similipal forests of Mayurbhanj district are also contiguous to forests of Keonjhar district. The wildlife wing of the Odisha Forest Department should have a separate wing of research to investigate on flora and fauna.
There are 2,000 species of snakes in the globe and these are available in the warm climates. Generally, the snakes prefer to home in the bush areas of the tropics and sub-tropics. All the reptiles are cold-blooded, including snake reptile. The body temperature of these animals cannot adapt with the atmospheric temperature of surrounding.
There are no snake in Arctic zones, New Zealand and Ireland due to severe cold. But in case of warm blooded animals like mammals, their body temperature always adapts with the atmospheric temperature.
There are 216 species of snakes in India and 52 species of them are poisonous. The venom, which the snake injects in the victim’s body, has toxic value. The poisonous snakes always kill their prey injecting venom through their tong bites. There are a lot of prejudices against snakes and fear of people, which become the cause of destructions of snake population in India irrespective of poisonous and non poisonous.
There are cases where mo re people die out of panic in snake bite rather than action of toxicity of venom. Due to rapid loss of habitats the populations of all kinds of reptiles in Odisha and in India are going down. More deaths of people and domestic animals are happening every year for this reason alone. Every year, thousands of people die due to snake bite. Previously, the State Governments were permitting for export of live snakes and skins from India; but now the practice has been stopped.
The snakes control the rat populations in the crop fields as well as in the godowns. The rats do more material damages and to the health of man than the snakes.
As statistics reveal, every year 33 million tons of food grains like cereals are damaged by rats which can provide food for 9 lakh of people annually. There is also statistics that more people die of plague than snake bites in India. The plague is carried by rats. So the rat is more harmful than snakes in India.
Now the Government of India and the State Government of Odisha are taking the efforts to double the agricultural productions through intensive cultivations, but if the mouse and rat populations are not kept under control, the objectives of intensive agro productions cannot be fulfilled. So, the economic value of snakes over rats, squirrels, frogs and lizards can be assessed well.
The rats, squirrels, frogs, lizards and all types of rodents including birds are natural foods of snakes. The activities of snakes are more during evening hours. Generally, the snakes are seen more during evening hours. The snakes collect their food prey during this time and there is greater possibility of their biting at this hour. In our country, around 25,000 people annually die due to snake bites.
Even in the urban and non-urban areas, the poisonous reptiles are found in abandoned buildings, where human activities are less. The cobra or Naga and also known as Gokhara or Tampa live in such places.
The species is highly venomous. Another is the common krait. Third is Russell’s viper which is locally known as Rana. And the fourth most venomous snake is scaled viper. These four species are highly venomous and inflict total bites.
During the monsoon seasons the burrows and the holes of the rodents get filled with water and they come out usually from their nests for safety. So the snake bite incidents are more common during the rainy season. Another reason is that this is the breeding period of Ophidia.
Now many cases of hot spots of young cobras are seen in coastal tracts of Bhadrak and Dhamnagar areas of north coast of Odisha. The coastal tracts of every State are very much vulnerable to snake bites. So, during this period all the peripheral hospitals of the State should be sufficiently equipped with antivenin injections to save the lives of snake bite victims.
A few days back, the writer got information from former MP Mohan Jena of Badachena that the snake bite antivenom injections are not available in the dispensaries of Jajpur. So the Health Department as well as the State Government should take positive steps to meet the emergencies.
Again, the flood-hit areas of coastal plains and other areas should be fully equipped with antivenom injections under disaster management schemes to protect the lives of the victims of snakebite.
The lethal bites of snakes are always expected during dusk and dawn. So the children and their guardians should be made aware of this.
Presently, it is noticed that the snakebite management in our State is very poor. First of all, the inadequate stock of anti venoms is seen in all the hospitals and dispensaries and the doctors are not well trained to meet the situation.
Now, the Union Health Ministry has asked the State Governments to procure the anti venom serum through the National Health Mission, which should be worked out positively. The risk of snakebites is also more in the areas having piles of garbage.
The victims of snakebite should be allowed complete rest. Try to remove panic always from the minds of the victims. No time should be lost delaying clinical treatment in snakebite and consulting a local quack.
(The writer is a former forest officer and environmentalist, Email: nadiya.kanungo@gmail.com, M-937460649)