06-07-2025
Two ‘ghosts' in a VIP bedroom
The Common Wolf snake (CWS) is frequently encountered in houses where it feeds on skinks and an abundance of lizards. A Wolf snake swallows a House lizard. (Rahul Jethi)
Last week, two surfaced in a first-floor room of a VIP bungalow in Chandigarh. The bedroom had not been used for a few weeks and as its wont, nature will occupy the ensuing vacuum. When the bedroom was being readied for reuse, and Baygon and other sprays used to drive out insects/lizards, a horror story unfolded. The next morning householders discovered two CWS in the bedroom, which were adversely affected by sprays. The two dizzy serpents had deserted their hiding places. While the snakes were rescued and released, their presence impacted the householders' peace of mind, who went into overdrive to 'seal' the house.
The CWS mimics the Common krait in appearance, and the latter is highly-venomous and also frequents homes at night. But the CWS is non-venomous and its bite is actually less harmful to humans than that inflicted by say, a beloved dog, an irate monkey or a pesky rat. But such is the negative association of snakes in the human mind --- regardless of their venom potency --- that the mere surfacing of a non-venomous species is enough to send shivers and occasion nightmares.
Sleep can remain disturbed in a snake-visited house, for any swish of the sheets at night or a movement occasioned innocently by the ceiling fan, may be mistakenly interpreted as a serpent's creeping advance.
Like the krait, the CWS in a large house is like a phantom, a ghost, so difficult to find. It has adapted to hiding places such as cracks in unplastered, crevice-strewn brick walls, electricity switch boards and letter boxes. These are spots where lizards take refuge. Such snakes can snuggle between mattresses during the day. The CWS will surface at night for hunting lizards when it senses that householders are asleep. Similarly, a krait was discovered in a Sector 15 house by chance as the householders had hosted a party and gone to sleep late, thereby surprising the serpent which had come out to hunt at its 'usual time'!
It is important to distinguish between CWS and the blackish krait. According to the Indian Snakebite Initiative, the CWS is 'dark chocolate brown or black with milky white bands at regular internal which go faint on the posterior body in adults. A milky white or off-white collar is always present on the neck which is an important characteristic to differentiate it from kraits.'
Male bullfrogs in breeding attire at village Padol. (Dr Rajiv Narwal)
Romancing the Basanti Dadoo
It was rain, pouring, into his black eyes. It was romancing the monsoons.
As if from thin air, a multitude of Indian bullfrogs (the largest species of frog in our country) had materialised in a pond of a peripheral village of Chandigarh.
'The rhythmic croaks filled the damp air, adding a unique charm to the monsoon atmosphere. Their sudden appearance, jumping around in puddles and hiding in the wet grass, reminded me how rain breathes life into nature. It was a simple yet refreshing sight that brought me closer to the beauty of rural life and the wonders of the rainy season,' recalled wildlife photographer, Dr Rajiv Narwal, who holds charge of the Sub-divisional Civil Hospital (Kalka).
Male bullfrogs effect a remarkable change to attract females as monsoons herald breeding season. Males change to a golden, lemony colour and sport bulging, cobalt-blue vocal sacs, which inflate and deflate rhythmically. Thus, have they acquired the quaint, charming title of 'Basanti Dadoo' in tolerant, indigenous cultures.
The female of the species, which is larger than the male, retains her mottled, jungle warfare fatigues cast in grey, green and brown and marked with spots and bars.
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