Mundakkayam/ Kottayam: With temperatures soaring, reptiles are increasingly straying into residential areas in search of cooler environments. The snake scare has become a major concern across both the eastern high ranges and western regions of the district. Residents say self-precaution has become the only solution, as even venomous snakes are now commonly sighted in rural areas.

The guest who crawled into an almirah
Residents of Kombukuthy in the Koruthodu panchayat, located along the forest border, were shocked to discover an unexpected ‘guest’ inside a house on Wednesday. Initially believed to be a cobra, the snake, which was pulled out from beneath an almirah, turned out to be a deadly King Cobra.

House owner Mutheriyil Sathyan recalled the tense moments leading up to the rescue. “It was around 5 pm when my mother, Thankamma, entered the house and noticed a huge snake in the bedroom. Startled, she screamed, and the snake quickly slithered away and hid,” he said. Officials from the forest aid post near Kannattu Junction rushed to the spot without delay. After confirming that the snake was still inside the house, the Rapid Response Team and the SARPA Team from the Vandanpathal forest office, about six kilometres away, were alerted.

The teams traced the snake to a cavity beneath an almirah, which was moved outside. Curled up in the small space was a six-foot-long snake. “Only when an official named Subhash pulled it out did we realise it was a King Cobra,” Sathyan said. “Children also live in the house. It is frightening to think what could have happened if the snake had gone unnoticed.”

Though King Cobras have been spotted in the Kombukuthy forest before, their intrusion into residential areas was never anticipated.

Abandoning the forest
Last September, three people were bitten by snakes while carrying out work under the employment guarantee programme at Mundakkayam and Mukkulam, and two of them died. Rural areas were once largely spared from snakes, thanks to the abundance of forests and plantations in the eastern high ranges. Nowadays, however, snakes are increasingly appearing in panchayats bordering forests. Local residents say drought-like conditions are driving snakes to seek water and cooler habitats.

Pythons, too, are being spotted more frequently. Forest fires are another factor forcing snakes into residential areas. The district’s snake rescue team has caught nearly a thousand snakes in the past year. They were later released back into the forest.

Snake scare spreads
The problem has become widespread in areas such as Kumarakom, Aarppookkara, Aymanam and Thiruvarppu, where most sightings involve cobras. Incidents of snakes feeding on fish in ponds have also become increasingly common. Vacant plots, fallow paddy fields and marshy stretches with standing water have turned into ideal habitats for snakes.

Those engaged in the fishery sector say snakes frequently get trapped in fishing nets. While earlier it was mostly non-venomous snakes, locally known as Polavan, that were caught, workers are now increasingly alarmed by the presence of venomous species, such as cobras, being ensnared.