Stay away from Calcutta!

So if there were one thing I would say that I am deathly afraid of, I would have probably have to say snakes (or dentists, but we’ll stick with snakes for this.) So when I read this story in the Wall Street Journal’s website while looking for a different story, it actually made me shudder. Apparently there is a village near Calcutta, India, where snakes are considered neighbors and friends. And these are not just any snakes, but the infamous King Cobra, arguably one of the most dangerous snakes known to man.

The reporter, who I must say is either much braver or far less intelligent than I am, interviewed a couple of residents. The first was a 14 year old girl who had this to say: “We sleep with the snakes, we eat with the snakes, we live with the snakes, but we are not scared.” NOT SCARED??? I know different cultures have different beliefs and all, but come on. I am fighting the images out of my head just so I don’t have a heart attack thinking about it. The village leader had even better things to say. “Whenever I lie down to my bed, cobras will just slide on top of me and next to me, without hurting me.” Okay, that is on so many levels just nasty. The reporter estimated than over 3000 King Cobras inhabit this ONE village. That is about 6 snakes for every 1 resident that lives there (and for those that are mathematically challenged, that comes out to be around 500 residents.)

I guess, according to the reporter, the snakes are peaceful, with only a handful of bite victims every year. The problem is the bite is fatal unless treated within minutes with anti-venom. Since the villagers trust the gods and spirit doctors to treat them, WITHOUT the anti-venom, you can guess what usually happens. The unbelievable part to me is, that since the cobras are so revered by the village people (not the singing group, the people who live in the village) that they say that anyone who was bitten was bitten by a “visiting or nonresident cobra because the local cobras are incapable of evil.” Right.

Now the story is probably worse for me than some others due to my severe fear of the snake. In fact, I was on a website ordering some exotic meat such as Kangaroo or Yak, or Boar (just to freak out my mother-in-law a little bit), and I saw rattlesnake. I thought okay, it would just be like sausage or something to cook. Boy was I wrong. When I clicked on the link to see how it was sent, I got that nasty little bit of vomit that you end up swallowing again….I know I know, probably a little too much information. They send the WHOLE SNAKE. Dead of course, but still the WHOLE DAMN SNAKE. I would have to skin it, clean it and debone it. Not to mention cut out its stomach and see what it had eaten for the last few weeks. I could not even begin to do it, even though it was dead, because it was still a snake. How the heck do these people crawl into bed with it?? Needless to say the order for the snake was quickly disposed of. I did however order some Kangaroo filets, but they are on backorder from Australia. They were supposed to be here about 10 days ago, but will now be here on March 11th. So for anyone who has wanted to try Kangaroo (especially you, Courtney), come on over.

For those of you who are unable to come over for dinner, but would still like to try your own meal of cool exotic meats, here is the website: http://www.exoticmeats.com

I leave you with some information about the disgusting King Cobras:

***King Cobras are the only snake in the world that builds a nest for their young, just like a bird, but on the ground!

***King Cobras lay 20-40 eggs in a nest, which is faithfully guarded by female her mate. The incubation time is 60-90 days.

***King Cobras eat other snakes.

***King Cobras are the longest venomous snake in the world! The average male grows 18 feet long, and some have been known to grow more than 20 feet long.

***Cobras are at the top of the food chain. Their only natural predators are the mongoose, and man.

***Cobras’ venom is not the strongest there is, but cobras can inject so much venom in a single bite that they can kill an elephant. Sea snakes have deadlier venom, and rattlesnakes have weaker venom.

***Cobras are not poisonous, they are venomous. This means that even though they have deadly venom in their sacs, the rest of the snake is edible to predators, if they are brave enough to try!

***Cobras are revered in India and Southeast Asia. The Hindus consider them manifestations of Shiva, the god of destruction and regeneration. The Buddhists believe a massive cobra spread its hood over the Buddha to protect him from the sun while he meditated. Cobra images guard the entrances of many Buddhist and Hindu temples. King Cobras have also been worshipped as sun deities and associated with rain, thunder, and fertility. On the annual lunar holiday of Nag Panchami, Hindus refrain from plowing and field work out of respect for cobras.

For me, I will think I will leave Calcutta off my places to visit.