Reptile Rescue Squad — Another Babushka!

The little pink snake

Its rescue season in CME! The last time it was a lissom damsel, now its a teeny toddler but with all the attitude of an adult!

My daughter Aditi and her friend Sunayana  were cycling along the CME Lake road when they came across a small pink strand moving next to the road. It was a baby snake. Naturally Daddy-O and elder brother Aashay were called upon to drop whatever they were doing and come to rescue it!

When I remarked mildly that the snake was in its natural habitat and that nothing need be done, animal-loving Aditi pointed out the dry grass-less environs, two stray dogs nosing the bushes on the other side of the road, some jungle crows perched above and the clear daylight which would highlight the baby to those out looking for a snack.

The miniscule snake found itself ensconced between two Grecian Goddesses armed and ready to war with those who considered a small snake as an item on the Bill of Fare. It was having none of this,  it formed a coiled S shape with the front part of its body,  flattened its body and lunged with its tiny yaw at the girls in turn, quite oblivious to the fact that it’s gape was too small to even hold onto a proffered finger. While we drove to meet them, the snake kept them busy with its tiny antics.  The girls passed the time in IMPORTANT DEBATE! The snake, they decided was a female and accordingly they named it Gaga after the latest goddess in pop music. Unfortunately for the girls, a brief cloudburst drenched all three before I could reach there! Finally, I reached and their vigil was over.

Gaga – the feisty little trinket snake! Note the S-shape coil and laterally flattened neck.

They watched with great concern as I nonchalantly  picked the little pink snake up by its tail and dropped it into my butterfly net. Soaking wet, they leafed through my copy of Whittaker & Captain and correctly identified it as a juvenile Common Trinket Snake (Elaphe helena).

Home the snake came, to be photographed and released in our garden in a clump of bushes and grass next to our concrete pond bordered with a small stand of bulrushes.