Rat snakes' combat dance

Rat snakes and cobras are sometimes virtually indistinguishable but the difference in their bite can make the difference between life and death. The rat snake packs a vicious bite; the cobra's can be fatal.

The only way we could tell on one occasion, when my neighbor was bitten by a snake hiding under his mattress (and was taken to hospital where he was kept under observation, pending a positive id on the offending creature) was by gently tapping the snake on the head with a long stick. The hood instantly snapped out in annoyance, as we took an instinctive leap backwards and rushed back to the hospital with the news: "Cobra! Nallapambu! Anti-venom NOW!"

These rat snakes are about two meters long, thrusting and parrying like full-contact duelists, sometimes raising their upper bodies up to a third of their full length. Their lower bodies twist and coil tightly around each other, all the while seeking advantage over the rival. It's easy to see, especially in the failing light of dusk, how the legend of a twin-headed snake is born.

I once witnessed such a mortal battle which began in a pond, then moved to the edge, by which time one snake had the head of the other in its mouth. The 'underdog' continued to thrash about as the struggle moved onto dry land. By the time I returned running with a camera, one snake was slowly 'disappearing' into another. Forty-five minutes later, the two had become one, the swallower languidly slithering away to leisurely digest the swallowed elsewhere.

There are nearly 2,000 species of snakes on Earth, most of them in warmer climes (none in Ireland, thanks to St. Patrick :) In India, there are over 200 species, of which about a quarter can be harmful or fatal to humans.

The rat snake is called Saraipambu in Tamil, Dhaman in Hindi.