Malaysia : Mangrove Snakes Hunting Education

Myself and my wife are just fresh home from a great 3 week trip to India and Malaysia. We went with the intention of seeing the Taj Mahal in Aggra, India and then to do a little snake hunting and Orchid spotting in Malaysia. We succeeded on all counts! The first week spent in a rural community near Delhi was a bit of a shock as we hadn’t done enough research for India and didn’t realize it was still what they term “Winter” around Delhi in January. We needed extra blankets at night and found ourselves gazing at a heavy mist throughout most mornings until a weak sun cleared it all by lunchtime. We were in the middle of a rural farming community surrounded by beautiful yellow fields of Mustard, not unlike the Rape oil fields seen in Europe. Though we hunted for reptiles most days I fear the weather was a might too cool for them so we found nothing at all. This time it was a great experience on how do snakes hunt.


Passing through a little farmstead one day, my wife walking in front of me, I was about to greet the lady of the small house who was sitting at the front door, when the farm dog, which I hadn’t noticed, sneaked up behind and gave me a fair old bite on my leg! thankfully I had on long walking trousers which saved me from the worst of the bite- the dog didn’t appear to be rabid and all my tetanus jabs were up to date. My wife dabbed on a bit of Tee-tree oil and we continued on our way. The small bite punctures soon healed and I survived without any further problems. The dog itself had been sleeping near the footpath through the farm and I never paid it any attention, my wife got past OK and I was more concerned about the tethered Buffaloes- never dreaming the dog would go for me! They do say silent dogs are the worst so be on guard in India!

A few days later we set off by taxi to Aggra, some four hours from where we were staying. Our driver introduced himself as Mr. Bagga and said we could call him “Old Bagga” this gave us all a good laugh and so we set off- through the thickest morning fog we had seen so far. For the first two hours we hung on petrified as we seemed to be going faster and faster through thick walls of fog surrounded by all sorts of huge, overloaded, heavy goods vehicles, everyone of which were constantly sounding their horns. We passed quite a few early morning crashes -Trucks gone into the rear of buses and cars gone off the road and down into ditches it was all unbelievable and even a little surreal. Our driver just kept on going, honking constantly on the horn as we went. We were grateful for the quick visit to a rest spot and a strong coffee for the nerves. we finally reached Aggra just after midday and we were taken to a spot where we parked for a few moments to gaze at the Taj Mahal sparkling in the sunlight across the other side of a swift flowing river. It was quite a sight and really got us keen to get there.

It is said that sometimes the reality of an exotic place is not quite the same as the dream- how soon we would agree with this! We were introduced to our college professor guide who seemed to genuinely know a great deal about the history and construction of this fabulous monument.We struggled through hordes of other tourists to get our entry tickets and then were shown into the grounds and beautiful gardens of the Taj Mahal. For a single moment it did seem to be breathtaking, the illusion was brief and shattered by the sudden arrival of an army of Indian photographers who descended upon us all of them offering to take ” the best souvenir picture in the world ” our guide had previously warned us to be aware of beggars, but he never mentioned the camera men- one of whom happened to be his “brother” and who also had the obligatory, very large family to support. We still politely declined and pressed on through hordes of chess set sellers and postcard touts and sun brolly dealers.

The Taj Mahal is undeniably a very wonderful sight and deserves it’s status as a ” wonder of the World “ but, the serene atmosphere it deserves and must have once had, is gone- the whole visit is spent warding of touts and trying to take a few snaps of the place yourself amongst all the other bobbing cameras and videos. Much more interesting would have been the visit to Aggra Fort wherein the famous Sha Jahan, who commissioned the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by one of his sons who had usurped him from the throne. However we declined to visit due to the fact that the Indian army had taken over this archaeological gem and were now using two thirds of the fort as a Barracks! We spent the rest of the day being shown round some of the many “Artisan” shops and factories, all of these artisans are claimed to be direct descendants of those who built the Taj. Again, we were taken to visit many relatives of our guide, whose family seemed to have populated the whole of Agra. Feeling hot and frazzled we decided to retreat to the relative calm of our overnight hotel and watch the latest Bollywood movie on our room TV, a refreshing escape from all the selling and begging going on out on the streets!

After a nightmare internal flight from Delhi to Madras, where airport security had been tightened up due to a certain gang of assassins being suspected of heading there- fresh from an incident in Dubai -we managed to board our flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and take a deep sigh of relief. Next morning we were in the beautiful and serene Kuala Lumpur airport where we found our luggage and got ourselves a nice air conditioned taxi to the city centre. We found our budget hostel with no problem- “The Rain forest B&B” as it called itself. It cost us £45 per night for a windowless room for two with great air conditioning and a good shower and western style toilet! Great value for money. The breakfast was a minimal affair of toast and coffee self service style and this was available in a very nice large breakfast room with free Internet facilities in one corner. We noticed that this establishment was run very efficiently by a team of Malaysian youngsters who did everything well and looked after us superbly. Out on the street in the blazing heat and very high humidity we found endless rows of restaurants and bars and cafes all with very good prices. China town and the so called “golden Triangle” was very close by and we spent a great four days there enjoying the sights and sounds of this spectacular modern city. We visited the huge shopping malls that were embedded into the base of the amazing Petronas Towers and gazed, awestruck, at the many famous name retail outlets- Marks and Spencer and Harrods amongst them. We never did find Tescos but all the bottled water available at the B&B was from ” Tescos Kuala Lumpur”! Our stay in the capital was soon over and we were next heading, via a four hour coach journey, to the famous east coast and the state of Trenganu, where the beaches are beautiful and stretch for miles complete with sea shells and King Crabs to collect and best of all a very refreshing sea breeze. Here, we also met with an instructor that told us about how do snakes hunt.

We had booked into a very good three star hotel and soon had introduced ourselves to a local tour guide and picked a tour that interested us- a boat ride up a Mangrove river that guaranteed us a sighting of Mangrove snakes! I had hunted for these snakes many years before when I had lived in Malaysia for three years and I had also kept one as a “pet” in my home town of Liverpool. I knew that Mangrove snakes were classified as rear fanged and venomous, but I also know that the venom is considered to be of no threat to humans. It took a bit of persuading our guide and boatman before they agreed to let me try catching one of these snakes for a quick photo shoot. they were both under the impression that the Mangrove snake is very dangerous and that it had front fangs like a Cobra.

Our tour guide was Mr. E mak and he proved to be a very jovial Malay with a great sense of humor that matched his rather comical face. He assured us he was terrified of snakes but would like to touch one if we did catch one. The boatman was Mr Hafiz and he was from Burma. He was a very good wildlife ranger and guide, he knew a great deal about life in the Mangroves and its ecology. We set off at breakfast and we were soon gliding along the muddy Cherating river, about half a mile inland from the South China Sea. We went gradually from bank to bank and we saw quite a few Monitor lizards resting on the lower branches of the dense Mangrove trees. We also spotted many Chipmunk type,stripey squirrels darting about in the higher branches. Here and there we could see large long tailed glossy black birds with bright yellow breasts – rather like Birds of Paradise. We spotted Mangrove crabs at ease on roots of the Mangroves just above water level and suddenly came upon an Otter diving for his breakfast- we watched him catch and eat five fish in quick succession oblivious to our silent, collective gaze.

A little farther on we found our first Mangrove snake- high on a narrow leafy branch overhanging the river. Our guides were very good at picking out these Black and yellow snakes. We saw at least half a dozen of them before we found one in a branch that was low enough to enable the boat to get right below it and for me to stand up carefully and take a few snaps of the snake in its resting position. Here we got chance to explain ourself about the snake hunt. Our two guides had removed themselves to the rear of the boat for safety! I passed the camera to my wife and stood up gingerly in spot where I could just reach- By know the snake was aware of me and had started to uncoil itself and move away, but I managed to get it securely by the neck and gently unwind it from its tree. Surprisingly it didn’t thrash around too much as I half feared it might and I was soon able to sit down in the boat and examine our catch. The Mangrove snake ( Boiga dendrophila) is without doubt one of the beauties of the snake world. This fellow was no exception his Narrow yellow cross bands gleamed in the morning Sun. I had used a small hand towel to hold the snake in the first instance as I knew they were very adept at giving sideways bites to the hand holding them. Snakes have very flexible jaws and this is one of the ways many snake catchers are initially bitten. This snake was settling down a little and I was able to remove the towel and continue restraining him with my hand alone.. He was around five foot long and in perfect condition. he had no visible body scars the inside of his mouth was very clean and I found no ticks or mites beneath his scales, usually the bane of snakes in the wild. he also had a full gut from a recently taken meal. Being nocturnal snakes they hunt at night for sleeping birds, lizards and mammals. I guess some of those Chipmunks we had seen earlier would be on the menu. The Mangrove snakes in the Boiga group are also called Cat snakes a reference to their Cat like eyes. I found from previous experience that they are easier to handle in daylight, remaining quite placid and mild mannered but at night you have to be very careful with them as they seem to change character and become very feisty and are quick to bite! something about the dark sharpens them up! After many photos and a quick hands on session for our two guides we reluctantly released our prize into the river, where he promptly headed for the nearest Mangrove tree and resumed his former resting position as though nothing had happened. We surmised that these snakes hunt at night and rest on the farthest branches out during the day to avoid being caught themselves by the marauding Monitor lizards ( they specialize in snake eating )

In retrospect I am happy to report that Mangrove snakes in Malaysia seem to be thriving and far from becoming extinct- (as a report elsewhere on this forum had feared.) the Mangrove rivers seem to be in top condition and all the other creatures are also thriving. Malaysia has a very good ongoing wildlife preservation programme- we saw some interesting advertising on TV advising people to give up the use of animal based medication and help to protect the country’s wildlife- especially in the Chinese Year of The Tiger. Our Burmese guide Mr Hafiz was so keen to know more about the snakes of Malaysia that I spent most of what little time we had left passing on my limited knowledge to him. I know a little about most of the more common Malaysian species and have kept many of them, I know more about snakes in general due to my own endeavors at home with my hobby of snake breeding. I promised him I would get hold of a copy of one of my favorite books about the snakes hunt at Malaysia and send it on to him. ( It’s out of print at the moment but I just tracked a copy down at the Liverpool Uni Book shop. ) Our little holiday was soon over and we returned from the hot climate of the Far east to the still Wintry climate of Lancashire in England. Where the pennies are being scraped together to enable us to do something similar again one day. J. E.