Cobras?

[Maxheadspace]

My wife and I live sort of in the countryside of Batangas province.  I hired a backhoe to do some landscaping in the yard.  After he left my wife told me he informed her he saw a cobra in some of the rubble he was moving.  As I recall, the prominent cobra in the Philippines is the spitting cobra.  Are there any special precautions we need to take to avoid an encounter, other than the obvious "watch where you step"?  Wear a face shield when out in the yard?  Are there ways to trap them?  I haven't heard many stories of negative encounters with cobras, but I don't want to be that story on the six o'clock news.

[Viking]

In my opinion, it's best to leave them alone. Many accidents happen when people are trying to kill or catch snakes.

Best thing to do, is to keep the area around your home clean and remove objects that can be used to hide in. As long as there is no rats around, the snakes will go somewhere else.

There's many different kinds of snakes in the Philippines, but when someone sees a snake it's always a Cobra 😉 . Thing is that the most common snake, the Brown Ratsnake, look very similar to the Cobra for the average person.

[JJReyes]

There are professional snake catchers.  The good ones will either catch and release them in more remote areas or sell to overseas labs who produce anti-venom.  Don't know of any, but I saw a couple of You Tube videos about a husband and wife who specialize in trapping spitting cobras.  Maybe the Manila Zoo might have information about snake catchers.  Another source would be an animal sanctuary.  

[jimeve]

5 hours ago, Viking said:

In my opinion, it's best to leave them alone. Many accidents happen when people are trying to kill or catch snakes.

Best thing to do, is to keep the area around your home clean and remove objects that can be used to hide in. As long as there is no rats around, the snakes will go somewhere else.

There's many different kinds of snakes in the Philippines, but when someone sees a snake it's always a Cobra 😉 . Thing is that the most common snake, the Brown Ratsnake, look very similar to the Cobra for the average person.

Difference between Cobra and a Ratsnake. The Ratsnake has yellow eyes, Cobras and other snakes have black-eyes. If a cobra does come near you keep still it will go away Even King Cobras will go away.

Snakes of the Philippines

[Jack Peterson]

3 minutes ago, jimeve said:

If a cobra does come near you keep still it will go away Even King Cobras will go away.

 Good advice Jim for any snake 

[Viking]

7 hours ago, jimeve said:

Difference between Cobra and a Ratsnake. The Ratsnake has yellow eyes, Cobras and other snakes have black-eyes. If a cobra does come near you keep still it will go away Even King Cobras will go away.

Snakes of the Philippines

It's true that the eyes differ between species, but it not always easy to see if you aren't very close to the snake or if it's in the shade or in a dark place. There's also other differences but most "non experts" will probably not notice in the stressful situation it is to encounter, what could be a " deadly snake"

I agree 100 % with your advice to keep still and the snake will most likely go away, without harming you.

Sad to say, many people feel a need to kill all snakes they see. And in their eyes, every snake is a "deadly Cobra". I have seen 3 snakes being killed by neighbours where our house is, and all were Brown Ratsnakes, even if the proud hunter said it was a Cobra 😉

 

[Lee]

9 hours ago, jimeve said:

If a cobra does come near you keep still it will go away Even King Cobras will go away.

So what if they don't go away.

Not sure I would want to take a chance of being bitten by having to depend on how cordial a snake was feeling that day.

[MotorSarge]

17 hours ago, Viking said:

As long as there is no rats around

[MotorSarge]

2 hours ago, Lee said:

So what if they don't go away.

Not sure I would want to take a chance of being bitten by having to depend on how cordial a snake was feeling that day.

Not to lead away from Cobras but,

Most snakes will go past you if undisturbed, but they don't far go away from their Den.....25-200 meters?

Most stay within the Den area until death.

Our stateside domicile is in the SW Desert along the Mexico border an area that is very populous with Rattlesnakes 24/7/365.

Sadley, I kill all Rattlesnakes that I encounter around the house, storage bldg., garage, land area, etc....Again because technically they don't travel that far from where you encounter them. 

My great Asawa is not just another great cook but an exceptional Chef.... So, no Rattlesnake is killed in vain, all are breaded & deep fried.

A few positive things about Rattlesnakes:

They have a very distinct obvious rattle to let you know your too close and they feel threatened (what other snake gives you a warning?)....(they don't rattle when on the hunt).

They keep the rodent population down.

Up to 30% of their strikes are dry bites as they sense skin warmth compared to jeans, boots etc.

 

[OnMyWay]

31 minutes ago, MotorSarge said:

A few positive things about Rattlesnakes:

They have a very distinct obvious rattle to let you know your too close and they feel threatened (what other snake gives you a warning?)....(they don't rattle when on the hunt).

They keep the rodent population down.

Up to 30% of their strikes are dry bites as they sense skin warmth compared to jeans, boots etc.

They make good pets!