First the story of the “live” snake…
It happened some decades ago in our neighbourhood. A small girl was bitten by a snake one morning. Her frantic cries alerted all, as relatives came running down and besides calming her down, they somehow subdued the snake also. Taking extreme risks, they managed to put it alive in a small metal box that was also carried to the hospital along with girl.
The chief physician came, examined the girl and asked to see the snake since they had brought it. But the snake was alive and could be let loose inside the hospital. There was no other option but to kill it. “No chance, we will not kill or let anyone kill the snake. We will just open the box slightly and show the snake to the doctor,” the relatives said.
A commotion ensued. If anything was going to be killed, it would be the doctor and not the snake, they threatened in unison. Please don’t think that the relatives were drunk or ardent snake lovers or were afraid of some wildlife protection Act. (This story had happened well before the act came into force in 1972) Like many people in those days, they just had this superstitious belief that if they killed the snake, the patient will also die. Somehow the good doctor convinced them that nothing of the sort would happen to the child and the situation was brought under control. This story had a happy ending except for the poor venomous viper, which by the time they opened the small metal box with sticks ready, was already dead.
Now the story of the “dead” snake…
In Trivandrum Medical College some decades ago when I was a house surgeon, a young woman bitten by a snake was brought to the casualty at night. The relatives had killed the snake and brought the dead snake bundled up in newspapers. (They had no superstitions and were unaware of the snake protection Act also.) We asked whether they were dead sure that the snake was indeed dead. They answered in the affirmative but when they opened the newspaper, a cobra with its hood sprang two feet up. Everyone ran for dear life. All the doctors jumped onto the tables and trolleys. Luckily, the snake’s back was broken somewhere in the middle and so it could not move. But the full hooded head was still two feet above the floor; it was hissing and ready to strike with full venom in any direction. The young woman was treated and saved by the doctors. The snake sadly had no such luck with the security employees.
The moral is same in both stories. Identifying the snake is undoubtedly of some benefit in treatment, but people should not risk their lives or that of others in their attempts to catch, kill or carry the snake. Doctors can treat snakebites without seeing the snake.