Indore: Snake catcher goes the extra mile to help a cobra

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Doctors and staff at the GPO veterinary clinic were surprised when snake catcher Mahendra Srivastava walked it with a cobra.

Srivastava had caught a 4.5 feet cobra (female) from a house in Ahirkhedi Kankar on January 24. While catching it, Srivastava saw that one eye of the snake had turned white. He thought it was an eye infection and would get cured on its own, so he kept it in his house for eight days. However, when there was no improvement, he took it to the veterinary clinic.

Veterinarian Dr Prashant Tiwari examined the snake and said that it was suffering from corneal opacity in the eye, and had no vision. Dr Tiwari said that the snake must have hurt its eye, and then the eye hardened and turned white.

Dr Tiwari said that recovery is a bit difficult in this case. Also, operating a snake is not possible due to some technical issues. However, he gave medicines for the treatment of the snake’s eye to snake catcher Srivastava.

Srivastava said though he is trying to help the snake, the latter does not know that and reacts according to its nature – by being aggressive.

So, Srivastava has to be very careful while giving medicine to the cobra. He firmly presses its mouth and puts medicine in its mouth with a dropper.

Srivastava said that on an earlier occasion he had kept a snake in his house for 18 days that was injured with a JCB and nursed it back to health. He said he had been catching snakes for the last three years, and so far, he has rescued more than 500 species of snakes.