Banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus multicinctus) swimming in canal

[MrHeybai]

Thanks, Onion. We did get the fellow out of the house -- actually two cats forced him/she/it to back out. We are going to trim back the green growth around the front door. I also read about Slowinski yesterday. He died after 28 hours while his colleague administered mouth-to-mouth waiting for a Burmese helicopter that never came. Sad. You guys be careful out there.

[THEonionsack]

Oh, by the way...Slowinski died after being bitten by a juvenile krait.

[THEonionsack]

(conclusion of the opening from The Snake Charmer):

The venom is a neurotoxin, which means that it disables the victim's nervous system - like yanking an electrical plug out of the socket. Death comes when neurotransmission ceases: With no instructions to breathe, the muscles of the diaphragm are stilled, and the victim asphyxiates."

Conclusion: you need to get that snake out of your house.

[THEonionsack]

(continued from The Snake Charmer):

American soldiers during the war in Vietnam called it the 'two-step snake', in the belief that its venom is so lethal that if it bites you, you will fall dead after taking just two steps. That's an exaggeration, but the bite of the many-banded drait is astonishingly potent.

[THEonionsack]

Here is the opening line from the superb book The Snake Charmer, based on the life of famed American herpetologist Joe Slowinski: "No snake kills with more ruthless efficiency than the many-banded krait, which dwells in the jungles of India and Southeast Asia. Drop for drop, it's venom is the deadliest of any land serpent's, apart from a few rare species found only in the outback of Australia. One bite of the krait carries enough concentrated toxin to kill two dozen grown men.

[MrHeybai]

Thanks for the upload. We had one come in our front door here in Taichung last night (Aug 27, 2009).  The cats discovered it. I believe it must have been a juvenile -- much smaller than the one in this vid -- it was pencil size in diameter and 35-40 cm in length. Do we have to worry about it? We followed it out of the house, but we don't like to kill snakes unless we are sure they are an immediate threat.