I saw different types of snakes, from very small grass snakes to tree snakes, sea snakes, and a very large one that people said was a boa. These days, I think it might have been a python instead but I am not sure. I was just around 5 or 6 when it came and visited our house.
We lived in a home inside a college compound that later became a university. The back of our house was like a dense forest with many trees and some wild animals, including snakes. In front of our house, there was a flower garden, and a little farther from that, the ground was lower and there were many trees, forming a forest that separated our home from the local airport. Consequently, we occasionally faced unwanted visits from snakes in our home. When I was around 11 or 12, we were no longer living in that house, the trees from back were cleared to build new buildings for the university, and we saw cute rabbits come out of that.
Then, we moved to another place inside that compound. That place had a higher foundation than our previous home, so we did not see snakes inside, but they were still outside. My mom liked planting flowers and trees, and I was responsible for watering them. I saw different types of snakes from time to time while performing my duty.
One night, there was no electricity, and my father wanted to do something to his car in the garage, so I needed to accompany him to show him light. I carried a small portable fluorescent light and accompanied him. I was around 9 or 10 years old. In the morning, we found a snake with a flat head, dead on the way to the garage. Someone had stepped over it. People said it was a deadly poisonous one. It made me realize we could have been in danger the previous night.
We lived in a home inside a college compound that later became a university. The back of our house was like a dense forest with many trees and some wild animals, including snakes. In front of our house, there was a flower garden, and a little farther from that, the ground was lower and there were many trees, forming a forest that separated our home from the local airport. Consequently, we occasionally faced unwanted visits from snakes in our home. When I was around 11 or 12, we were no longer living in that house, the trees from back were cleared to build new buildings for the university, and we saw cute rabbits come out of that.
Then, we moved to another place inside that compound. That place had a higher foundation than our previous home, so we did not see snakes inside, but they were still outside. My mom liked planting flowers and trees, and I was responsible for watering them. I saw different types of snakes from time to time while performing my duty.
One night, there was no electricity, and my father wanted to do something to his car in the garage, so I needed to accompany him to show him light. I carried a small portable fluorescent light and accompanied him. I was around 9 or 10 years old. In the morning, we found a snake with a flat head, dead on the way to the garage. Someone had stepped over it. People said it was a deadly poisonous one. It made me realize we could have been in danger the previous night.
Then we moved to our third house, where the foundation was flat again, and snakes visited our home once more. That's why I was very happy when we moved to a big city, where I no longer needed to check for snakes in my room before going to bed.
It was also common to see snakes inside and outside my grandparents' home during my childhood. I saw a tree snake from a tree near our bedroom. There were other types of snakes, including cobras and banded kraits, in our compound. One occasion I remember as a child was when a beautiful banded krait came into our ground floor and went under the tricycle of one of my cousins while he was on it. I think he was around 4, and I was around 6, and he shouted, "Grandma, here is a snake wrapped with plastic around its body!"
I remember seeing a sea snake on a beach, but I do not recall my age or the time period. I might no longer have been a child at that time, and the memory is blurred. All I remember is that after that, I was cautious of snakes whenever I went to a beach and did not enjoy its water anymore.
The last time I saw a snake was in 2019 in Singapore while I was walking with a friend from her home through a lane to a nearby rare natural beach. I believe we encountered a black spitting cobra, which is common there. I was reminded of the presence of wildlife even in a different part of the world.
These are some memories of snakes that came to mind this morning.
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