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Phone Numbers: Over the years, I realised that many a times innocent snakes were killed just because I wasn't there or I wasn't able to make it to the far away places of Goa. So I have made a detailed list of phone numbers of snake catchers, spanning the entire state.....

Turtles: Seven years ago, at two in the night, my dad and I were walking along the dark deserted beach of Morjim. I had managed to persuade a pretty college girl to come along, and with Jonny—a local boy from the village—we were patrolling the shoreline for sea turtles

Hi Friend

To kick start the photograph section what better than the Indian Cobra himself (or herself!)

Know your snake is actually a column that I run in a local newspaper for educating and familiarising the general public about common Goan snakes.

My idea was to provide two photographs and only a little information about the snakes dealing with identifying characters, common myths and whether the snake is venomous or non venomous. I didn't want to bore readers with names of scales, complex anatomy and the like.

Know your snake.

Snake; Indian Cobra. This snake is the commonest venomous snake found in Goa. The snake's colour varies from yellowish to brownish. Unlike the ratsnake the cobra never possesess any olive greenish in its skin colour and this along with the distinct zig zag white colour netted pattern marking the body is one of the good distinguishing characters between the two. The cobra also has a large head (the same thickness as its body), whereas in the ratsnake the head is only half as thick as its mid-body.

Myth; The snake has several myths associated with it. Some of them are - that it mates with ratsnakes, that it is known to seek revenge, and that should a female or male be killed it's mate would take revenge on the person responsible. These are all false.

Truth; The snake bites only when provoked, it ranks third among the four venomous snakes that Goa posses in terms of venom toxicity and is probably the easiest to handle among the four venomous snakes of our country!

best wishes

Rahul Alvares