Venomous Snakes of Udon Thani

personally, with my custom made blade, at least 5, in car, lost count. during rainy season, sometimes it one a day. the road seems the only high ground at times. but good for couple a month. none recently, since living near town, maybe one while in the north recently, but i think i missed or just nailed his tail, big sucker.

i less dead snake, on less kid getting bit accidently. my theory anyway.

With snakes, it is important to know what is dangerous and what is not. In Australia i was shown how to handle file snakes (a type of water snake) and how to open its mouth to show off its fangs. It was not a venomous one. I am not offering to do the same with a Cobra! Glad we have an expert like Michael around. Have seen plenty of people who cannot tell a snake from a legless lizard. I understand some err on the side of caution, but a little knowledge helps.

yes, i did kill one i later found not to be poisonous, pretty big green thing, had some extra growth on head like a lizard, almost felt guilty about that one, but the rest were poisonous, and few quite large. except the one i bbq'd, all served a purposed after death, yummy......................not me, but the ex family. the krait really scared me, because there was a couple kid playing so close to it.

well if I should come across a snake around my house I will get the garden hose & squirt it with water
to chase it away. I do believe in letting them alone and avoiding them Killing them is a no no in my opinion and I want to express my thanks to my friend Michael C. for posting this very important information and I do hope to see him Saturday night at the N/M get together

Gents,,,,, I'll be the first to admit,,, I much prefered the old style bungalow up on stilts/pilings over the new modern ground level houses. The time I lived in Takhli was an eye opener,,, there were snakes everywhere; regular and king cobras, banded Kraits, Russells pit vipers, pythons (big ones!). It even made me leery of visiting dark bars (imagine that). A girl was bitten by a cobra one night in a bar, it was under the table where people were sitting. In Udon back in 1974 or so, a large cobra came under the door and cornered about 10 of my buddies in a small shed until someone made a "new" door in the side wall. Guys would find them in the outdoor latrines all the time. IMHO, the best solution is to try and keep any and all types of mice and rats away, the snakes follow them.

maybe it a good idea to keep a CO/2 container handy and freeze the SOB if they get in the house
as for keeping pets out side I would assume dogs and cats make a nice meal for a large snake
so like L/L said keep those varmints away they are a food chain for snakes but the question
is how ?

old-timer wrote:is that the snake venom or the antivenin? - is it the medication that can kill you?

That was both- the snake venom often kills people from an allergic reaction AND the antivenin can kill people from an allergic reaction. People that are not immediately allergic to antivenin usually become allergic if they are treated multiple times (over time, multiple bite incidents, not from an initial bite incident). These same people also become increasingly allergic to snake venom also. There are exceptions to this, but they are very rare.

Aznyron,,,, that sounds like a great idea to keep a good-sized co2 fire extinguisher handy. Be a good idea even without the snake issue, huh?

Gents,, another war story I just remembered. Also happened at Takhli. A Security forces cop (dog handler) that I knew told me about the only time his k9 was scared. One night out on the perimeter a huge king cobra continuosly tracked him and his dog until he called in and got picked up. He said that dog (big German Shepherd) was scared out of his skin, the cobra kept tracking them and raising up out of the grass to look at them. He said the snake "stood" about 4 or 5 feet tall. Had to be because the grass was that tall. Back then the king cobra had the reputation among the GI's as being the most aggressive.

Should of traded that German Shepard For A Mongoose.

L/L yes it would be good to keep a co/2 extinguisher handy not just for a small fire or a snake but you can make warm beer cold in a few seconds LOL old navy trick just stand them in the corner and cover them with CO/2 bingo you got ice cold beer any way getting back to snakes I saw a long SOB down in pattaya
one day while riding my M/B and I stopped sudden & was ready to make a U turn but it continued on into the brush and disappeared I am no snake expert but if I was to guess I would say it was a python to long to be cobra and python are non poisonous snake but it still could kill a grown man by strangulation

B/M mongoose can kill snakes but what about python or boa constricta or a large cobra some get pretty big

laphanphon wrote:

and kraits are active during the day, had to kill one cutting across front lawn with kids playing near blocks. along with a cobra or 2.

Kraits NEVER come out during the day unless they are physically removed from their hide. Daylight completely disorients them and they will not do anything when forced into daylight with the exception of seeking a dark place to retreat to. I have come across all of Thailand's species in the field and those that have decades studying Thailand herpetofauna will tell you the same. If you look at the pictures in this thread, their heads are in a downward position and it was difficult to get good pictures of them, because they were trying to bury their heads or go underground. If you see a banded snake active during the day, IT IS NOT A KRAIT. Lycodon, Dinodon, and Dryocalamus are just some of the genera of completely harmless snakes in Thailand that have multiple species that are banded. By no means is every banded snake a krait and there are also many species that will flatten out their necks (like the Rhabdophis subminiatus pictured) to make themselves appear like a cobra.

LoongLee, Ophiophagus hannah (King Cobra) is actually a very shy snake and usually goes out of its way to avoid human confrontation. The only exception is when they are defending their nest; they are the only snake that actually builds a nest. Raising and hooding by all cobras is a defensive gesture, it puts the cobra at a terrible disadvantage in striking speed, its ability to defend itself and its ability to move rapidly, since up to 1/3 of its body is being raised off of the ground.

Aznyron, that happened in Central or South America. The mongoose was introduced in banana plantations to rid them of venomous snakes. The boa constrictors ate them.

Yeah,,Aznyron,, some of the guys that worked out on the flight line would use the aircraft LOX bottles for the same thing,,, worked like a charm.

Re the python,,, I know some people won't believe me but a blue Air Force bus taking us into Nakhon Phanom from the base ran over a python one day. The Thai driver just laughed. Didn't even faze the snake. We looked out the back window and that snake stretched from the klong ditch on one side of the road, across 2 lanes, and down into the klong ditch on the other side. It sure was quiet on that bus for the rest of the ride......