(By : Orlando B. Dinoy, originally posted @ Philippine Daily Inquirer 22:04:00 02/27/2010)
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BANSALAN, DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines—King cobras, which are not endemic in this town, have suddenly appeared and even started attacking humans, officials said.
Since the start of the month, two farmers have already been killed by king cobras while a baby was spared because his parents were quick enough to parry the attack.
Insp. Reyniel Raotraot, deputy chief of police, said the first victim was Alvin Ayuda, 28, a farmer in Barangay Tinungtongan.
Raotraot said Ayuda was cutting trees in his backyard with two friends on Feb. 1 when the reptile attacked and bit him.
Raotraot said Ayuda’s friend ran after the snake which also tried to strike him.
Ayuda reached home and told his family that he was bitten by a snake. He died shortly without medication.
Raotraot said the second victim was Raul Oguit, 32, of Barangay Managa here.
Relatives brought him to a hospital but he died on the way, he said.
On Feb. 20, Raotraot said a king cobra found its way into the house of a family here and was seen near a sleeping baby.
Raotraot said the baby’s father threw a rug at the snake to drive it away, but the snake wrestled with it. The baby’s parents struck the snake dead with a piece of wood.
On Tuesday, residents of Barangay Tinungtongan killed another king cobra.
On Thursday, residents of Barangay Sibayan here also killed a king cobra, which was trying to cross the highway to their homes.
All the snakes were suspected to be mature because their lengths exceeded two meters, Raotraot said.
Raotraot said the snake attacks were alarming.
Chief Insp. Solomon de Castilla, Bansalan police chief, said police have launched an information drive on how to avoid being bitten by snakes.
“Presence of mind is important and a person must have courage to kill them if he can’t avoid being bitten,” he said.
Raotraot said police also advised residents to clean their backyards to remove possible hiding places of snakes.
Government veterinarian Fermin Verallo said king cobras are not endemic to the province.
He said king cobras were only previously seen in Davao Oriental and their entry here could be due to the intense heat brought about by El Niño.
Verallo also said there are no available anti-venoms in the province and that victims have to be brought to Davao City to receive medication.
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3 comments:
The Snake that Overtakes Me 23-4-2010
When I was a teenager I killed a cobra but it was out of necessity. It was around 8:00 PM and I found out that our old fashion toilet that I need badly became a snake's resting place. Thanks to my "dipabilong suga" I was able to see the cobra before I got on and using only the "sanga sa kamunggay" as my weapon. My dilemma was if I don’t kill the serpent, there’s a possibility that it might come back while my body demands a nature’s call.
I’m deeply sad about the two men who were killed by snake bite may their souls rest in peace in eternity. I have an idea; I think our community should consider these few suggestions:
1. We need to educate our children and adults about the danger of snake bite.
2. Our town may try to create a society that would respond to preserve the creatures for science studies, medicine, people's livelihood, etc.
3. Provide proper training to those who would volunteer to be an on call snake catcher.
4. I believe snakes are useful for medicine and other studies and killing them is not the answer to the problem but it may be a solution to our anti-venom shortages in our town someday.
Don’t kill the creature for no reason at all; you may do so when it is necessary to protect yourselves. My point is to make difference in terms of respecting and preserving the growth of our environmental assets.
I’m neither an animal activist nor a fanatic of these wonderful creatures especially our King Cobras.
I just love to make a positive point to improve our knowledge and understanding about this reptile, so in the near future we may know how to handle when such situation occurs.
Edgardo Pesquera
Hong Kong
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