Awareness on snakes and their bites

Over 100 people from the twin villages of Chandor Cavorim and Guirdolim were educated at length on snakes, snake bites and how to attend to such bites at a programme jointly organised by Ganv Bhavancho Ekvott, Chandor Club, Guirdolim Club and Chandor Seamen Association.
Prominent snake rescuers and doctors shared their experiences and knowledge at the over 3 hour long session held at Chandor Club premises and all present not only remained rooted to their seats but also actively participated in the deliberations.
It was revealed that of the around 90 species of snakes found in Goa, only four are venomous or poisonous while the others are harmless.
The good news was that antidote or anti venom treatment is available for all the four poisonous snakes found in Goa. These four poisonous snakes are: Krait, Cobra, Russel’s Viper and Saw Scaled Viper. The bad news is that there is no antidote for the newly found King Cobra bite.
Wildlife rescuer Alex Carpenter from Britain but living with the tribals of Canacona for the last many years began raring snakes even before his teens and disclosed that a leopard passes by his house regularly and snakes even visit his house without causing any harm.
“Snakes are genuinely harmless animals and will go their way if you ignore them,” he said while admitting that most people are scared of snakes, which he asserted is unfounded.
Wildlife rescuer Benhail Antao gave an over view on the different snakes found in Goa with slides showing the different snakes. Speaking partly in Konkani and giving the snakes’ local names helped people know the poisonous snakes.
Aaron Fernandes who has actually studied snakes and reptiles shared his experiences in Andaman islands. He revealed that there is no antidote for a bite by the King Cobra in India.
Dr. Freston Marc Sirur and Dr. Vrinda Lath from the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal shared their experiences of rushing to the nearest hospital in case of a bite from a poisonous snake instead of relying on country medicines and Godmen.
They also gave public demonstration of what to do in case of a snake bite and also in first aid which had a lot of the villagers participating.
Amongst those who participated in the programme were a practising doctor in the village, the person who handles the health sub centre in the village and a snake rescuer living in the village.