Snakes as friends 8212; An expert says it is not just a tale

Singh holds a Ph.D in herpetology and has a world record by spending 45 days in a room with 8,800 snakes in Dubai in May 1989.

quot;The common cobra, the krait, the Russel8217;s viper and the saw-scaled viper are four out of India8217;s 250 species that are poisonous.8221; Thus snake bites are divided into venomous and non-venomous. Inthe former, where the two fang marks will be visible, a tourniquet must be applied three inches from the marks and the victim must be taken to a doctor for an antidote.

It is important to care for non-venomous snake bites too because secondary infections often prove fatal. Symptoms, which manifest in 15-30 minutes, include acute stomachaches, nausea, dizziness, blindness, headaches and vomiting.

8220;No snake in the world can kill you instantly,8221; she says emphasising the need for quick treatment. The victim must keep not panic or get agitated and stay as still as possible because a higher metabolic rate will increase the flow of venom through the blood stream. Panic causes 99 per cent of the deaths. 8220;I have been bitten 47 times, thrice fatally but I am still alive because I kept my wits about me,8221; she says, adding that she had been in a six-by-six enclosure with an angry cobra and emerged unscathed.

8220;Snakes will only attack when they are threatened or provoked. It is always human error that results intheir attack,8221; she emphasised and pointed out that there are four kinds of snakes bites: provoked bites when an irritated snake bites the person who is teasing it, an accidental bite when a snake bites a person who steps on it, a dry bite by a cornered snake and without venom and the most dangerous is the survival bite to those come in the way of a preying snake. Treatment depends on the kind of bite as the quantity of venom differs.

As popular movies would have us believe, snakes do not seek revenge. 8220;They lack the capacity to handle as intense an emotion as revenge,quot; Singh says.