From a sprinkler in the garden to the living room of a chawl, reptiles have been straying into residential areas for various reasons. In the last 24 hours, wildlife volunteers have rescued five snakes from Bhandup, Borivali, and Goregaon.
Afternoon scare
Rajesh Thakur, a resident of a chawl in Tulsi Pada, Bhandup (West), spotted a snake behind his home around 3 p.m. on Thursday. “Seeing the reptile slithering around a bush, my two friends and I were scared. We immediately called the helpline of the Plant & Animals Welfare Society-Mumbai (PAWS-Mumbai) and Amma Care Foundation (ACF),” he said.
Within 20 minutes, the snake, identified by PAWS-Mumbai ACF volunteers as a five-foot-long checkered keelback, was rescued. This non-venomous species, also known as water snake, is mainly found near water bodies, marshes, and agricultural fields. It has keeled scales and rounded pupils, and the body colour varies from green to dark brown.
In the second incident at 12.20 a.m. on Friday, a 5.5-foot rat snake, which is also non-venomous, was rescued from inside a cupboard in Goregaon (East).
Another checkered keelback, which was 1.5 feet long, was found at 10 a.m. in the sprinkler of the garden of a residential building in Bhandup (West).
One hour later, a two-foot-long green keelback, also not venomous, was spotted in Borivali (East). “Sometimes, it can be confused with a cobra due to its habit of showing a narrow fake hood above the ground as a nervous response,” Sunish Subramanian Kunju, founder of PAWS-Mumbai ACF and honorary wildlife warden, said.
The spectacled cobra that was rescued from the living room bed at Mahadev Haridas Patel Chawl in Borivali (East) on Friday.
Around 2.23 p.m., a one-foot-long spectacled cobra was sighted at Mahadev Haridas Patel Chawl in Borivali (East). PAWS-Mumbai ACF volunteers swiftly retrieved this venomous species from a bed in the living room.
Vet examination
Mr. Kunju said he informed forest department officials about the reptiles.
“Once veterinarians completed examining the snakes, they were released into the wild.”
He said loss of habitat, climate change, green cover near houses, and ongoing work on roads and the Metro could be the reasons why reptiles are entering residential areas.
