An Animals Lover's Life-giving Mission this Monsoon

12 July - 18 July '09 . Kiddies Section . Page 6
It's great to see youngsters come forward to help save animals and environment says an activist Sunish Subramanian from Plant & Animals Welfare Society (PAWS). “Recently a group of college students from Powai who found few baby snakes in a ground outside their college Chandraban Sharma College in Powai were playing with them and later put it in a bucket to save them. They later summoned PAWS for help to consign them to a natural habitat.”

When PAWS-Mumbai team reached the spot and saw that the baby snakes were Russell's Viper, one of the most deadly snakes. The boys could have died if they had been bitten by those snakes said Sunish. No one should try to play with snakes, if you see in your vicinity, just keep an eye on it and call a snake rescuer.

Recently, this week two turtles were also rescued by a few teenagers who found them in a water logged area at Bhandup area on the Express Highway area. They were taking it to keep it was as pet in their home. Later, they were rescued from them and released back in the habitat of Powai Lake. A Cuckoo bird was also found by a little animal lover Abhilasha Mantri, she found this injured bird attacked by cows, she rescued it and called up PAWS. Soon it was given treatment and kept under observation for few days to be released back in to its natural habitat.

In all, from various part of city, PAWS-Mumbai rescue team have released 12 snakes, 1 cuckoo, 2 turtles in the natural habitat with the assistance of the forest department.
Common snakes found in residential areas:

* Spectacled Cobra, Russell's viper, Saw-Scalled Viper, Common Indian Krait and Common Vine Snake are venomous snakes.
* Rat Snake / Dhaman, Checkered Keel back, Buff-Striped Keelback, Banded Kukri, Common Wolf Snake, Common Sand Boa and Indian Rock Python are non-venomous snakes.
Few common reasons why snakes come in to residential areas:

* Now the breeding season is over, so baby snake are commonly seen.
* During monsoon season the burrows get filled up with water, so they come out and stray in residential area, which are dry.
* As Mumbai city is losing its natural habitat due to construction and fast becoming in to concrete jungle.

What steps resident should take to prevent snakes to come in residential areas?

* Remove all the debris, garbage and unkempt bushes as these are good hiding places for them.
* Install net on window and washroom and try to keep doors closed.
* Stop keeping birds as pet at windows and trim branches that touch windows.
* Fill holes around residential areas especially rat holes.
* Try to trim bushes and make it smaller, so that it helps to spot if any snake is hiding.

To rescue a snake or injured bird in your vicinity call PAWS-Mumbai Rescue Helpline: 9892179542 / 9833480388