Dhamnagar: More cobras and their hatchlings were rescued from Bijay Bhuyan’s house at Paika Sahi in Shyampur under Dhamnagar police limits in Bhadrak district Sunday.
Snake Helpline members say more snakes could have been holed up inside the house. Saturday, 106 baby cobras were captured and with the seizure of more reptiles, their numbers went up to 122 Sunday.
Among the captured snakes were three fully grown cobras while one managed to slither away. Five rooms of Bhuyan’s old thatched house were dug out and snakes were captured.
Snake rescuer Sheik Mirza said some baby cobras were put inside a few plastic jars and kept inside a room to attract their parent cobras. And, strangely, the ploy worked. As Mirza entered the room with a torch light Sunday morning, he found four male and female cobras guarding their offspring. He captured three of them while one escaped.
Mirza voiced concern over the cobra on the lam. He said the house is in such a ramshackle condition that it was not possible to carry on further digging.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of more snakes being holed up in the house. As the walls have cracked and may cave in anytime, there is a need for permission from the administration to continue search operations.
The family of Bijay needs to be temporarily shifted somewhere else to facilitate more digging and capturing the remaining snakes.
Meanwhile, villagers are panicked as several snakes have not been caught yet. They have appealed to the administration to allow the Snake Helpline people catch all the reptiles from the house to ensure their safety.
The snake story began when Bijay saw a cobra on a termite mound in his house a few months ago and took care of the snake by giving it milk and food. Later, he was surprised to find the snakes growing in number. Initially, he spotted around 20 baby cobras coming out of the termite mound.
Curious, he poured phenyl into a hole in the mound after which more than 100 snakes slithered out to everyone’s shock. Fearing safety for his family members, he alerted the Snake Helpline which came to his rescue.
PNN
