Global Courant 2023-04-27 10:18:07
According to the latest available figures from the World Health Organization, more than 15,000 people were bitten by snakes in Myanmar in 2014.
Of those, 1,250 died, a death rate higher than many other countries, largely due to Myanmar’s creaking healthcare system and limited access to antidotes.
It is a danger that is never far from the team’s work.
In March, they spent two days trying to remove several cobras nesting under a house in Yangon.
Tunneling into the foundations as neighbors watched, their digging was often interrupted by the snakes spewing venom at them.
“It stinks,” said Mr. Ko Ye Min, 31, a tattooed member of the team, as he took a break from trying to reach the nest.
Recognizing exactly what kind of stench is another skill a snake catcher needs to hone, according to Ko Toe Aung.
“We need to be familiar with their scents… to identify the types of snakes before we remove them,” he said.
Cobras smell “rotten,” he said.
“But the smell of a python is much stronger. Sometimes we even throw up when we put it in the ambulance.”
‘Sympathy’
Through their online videos and growing notoriety, the Shwe Metta team hopes to encourage people to have more compassion for the slippery reptiles – especially if one shows up in their home.
“People used to kill snakes when they found them,” said Ms Shwe Lei. “But they are more knowledgeable and they know we can release snakes back into the wild. So they call us to capture and remove them.”
The rescued snakes are observed at a nearby monastery until there are enough to warrant a trip through the bush to release them.
In late March, one such trip took the team into the blistering backcountry of the Bago Yoma Hills, 150 km north of Yangon.
