Snake catcher

57-year-old Sompob Sridaranop, a civil servant attached to the Marine Department, has a skill that has made him a very busy man in recent weeks.

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Snake catcher Sompob Sridaranop shows a recent capture, a poisonous and hot tempered large-eyed green pit viper (Cryptelytrops macrops). PAKAWAT SUNPITUKSAREE

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Snake catcher

57-year-old Sompob Sridaranop, a civil servant attached to the Marine Department, has a skill that has made him a very busy man in recent weeks.

He’s a snake catcher and has been catching snakes for more than 30 years in Bangkok and Ayutthaya.

He has become quite famous and he is the first man authorities turn to for advice and assistance in catching snakes.

Under normal conditions, Mr Sompob deals with an average of 40 to 50 cases per month, but since the floods hit, he's been dealing with as many as 10 cases a day.

He says, however, that he is very limited in what he can do since he doesn’t have a boat or a truck to travel over inundated roads. He also has a serious kidney condition that requires dialysis twice a week.

"I’ve had to tell many callers 'Sorry, but you're going to have to call someone else who has a boat'.

Money is also a problem. He does not get paid, nor does he have a sponsor, so fuel costs are a burden. Only about three out of 10 people offer him travel expenses, so most of the time he pays out of his own pocket.

Mr Sompob said of the 17 species of snakes typically found in the Bangkok area, 90% of the calls were about reticulated pythons, followed by cobras and pit vipers.

Captured snakes are sorted. Venomous snakes are delivered to Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute for venom extraction; non-venomous snakes are released back into the wild away from human settlements.

Mr Sompob said people should understand that snakes are territorial and only bite humans as a defence mechanism.

He said they are more likely to flee rather than fight. They also have poor eyesight and rely on smell and sensing heat and vibrations. When seeing a snake, one should keep as far away as possible and avoid cornering them.

If confronted by a snake, one should remain calm and as still as possible, because snakes are attracted to motion and any movement may provoke them to attack.

Adapted from a story in today’s Bangkok Post by Pakawat Sunpituksaree. You can read more about Mr Sompob here: http://bit.ly/vV2ooe

condition – the physical state of a person or animal, especially how healthy they are อาการ, สุขภาพ
dialysis – a process for separating substances from a liquid, especially for taking waste substances out of the blood of people with damaged kidneys การบวนการกรองของเสียจากเลือดของคนไข้
burden – a serious or difficult responsibility that you have to deal with  ภาระ
species – a set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other and can breed with each other พันธ์,จำพวก
reticulated python – a very large snake that kills animals for food by wrapping itself around them and crushing them งูหลาม
cobra – a poisonous African or Asian snake that spreads out the skin on its neck when it is angry งูเห่า
sort – to arrange things in groups or in a particular order according to their type, etc; to separate things of one type from others จัดเข้าประเภท, แยกประเภท
venomous – producing venom (the poisonous liquid that some snakes, spiders, etc. produce when they bite or sting you) มีพิษ
extraction – the act or process of removing or obtaining something from something else, in this case, taken venom out of a snake การถอน, การดึงออก
release – to allow someone or something to go free ปล่อย
settlement – a place where people come to live ชุมชน
territorial (of an animal, bird, etc.) guarding and defending an area of land that they believe to be their own  แสดงความเป็นเจ้าของที่หรืออาณาเขต
defence – protecting somebody/something from attack  การป้องกัน
flee – to leave a place or person quickly because you are afraid of possible danger หนี อพยพ
rely on – to need something in order to continue living, existing, or operating อาศัย, พึ่งพาอาศัย
sense – to become aware of something even though you cannot see it, hear it, etc สัมผัส, รู้สึก
vibration – a continuous shaking movement or feeling การสั่นสะเทือน,การสั่น
avoid – to try to prevent something from happening หลีกเลี่ยง
corner – to get a person or an animal into a place or situation from which they cannot escape ต้อนเข้ามุม
confront - to stand in front of someone in a frightening way เผชิญหน้า
still – quiet, not moving เงียบ สงบ
motion – movement การเคลื่อนไหว
provoke – to cause an angry or aggressive reaction ปลุกเร้า