The thought and prospect of finding snakes in your homes can be so scary and unimaginable. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to visit the toilet only to find a slimy, slithery snake lying in wait in your toilet seat, or finding a big black snake in your children’s room or even finding one all curled up in your shoes! Frightening, you might say, BABAJIDE OKEOWO in this report spoke to some people who have had those scary experiences.
Mr. Chidi Obineche was at work when a disturbing and distressing call ruined his day. The call was from his wife who informed him that a big black snake had just been discovered in his children’s room upstairs. And just like that, all the activities he had lined up for the day went bust.
“I was in the office when my wife called me that there was a snake in the house. I became so frightened and destabilized when I received the news that I couldn’t work anymore, and I had to close immediately and started heading home, I live in Ikorodu while my office is in Kirikiri in Apapa,” he told The Xpress.
The first thought that came to Chidi’s mind was the safety of his children, the wife allayed his fear and assured him that the children were safe, he then began to think of how to get the creature killed.
“At first, I was apprehensive about the safety of my children as the children were at home on holidays at the time, but my wife assured me that the children were unhurt. I started wondering how a snake could get into the room upstairs and ended up under their reading table in plain sight. Since I was very far away and there was no way I could get home immediately and to ensure that the snake did not escape, I told her to look for some people to assist her in killing the snake,” he reminisced.
Recalling the event of the day, he said it was his daughter who discovered the snake in the children’s room when she went to pick something and raised the alarm and then his first son alerted their mother.
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“It was my daughter who first saw the snake and raised the alarm, my first son then called their mother who also was not around initially as she was at her business premises, which wasn’t too far from the house anyway. She dashed down to the house and then put a call across to me. All the while the commotion lasted, the snake made no move to either escape or hide” Obineche recalled.
Till date, the Obineches are still at a loss on how the snake found its way into the house and ended up in the children’s room.
“The mystery, up to now is that I have not been able to fathom how the snake got into the room upstairs. I have heard stories of snakes entering kitchens through a door that was left ajar, but how the snake managed to enter the house, climb the staircase and evaded four different doors still remain a mystery till date.
When I got back from work, I had to take a look round the house to see if there was any form of openings; maybe a crack or a broken window, I couldn’t find any of such. I even had to commission a carpenter to take a look at the roofing to see if there were any openings in the roof that the snake might have entered from, nothing of such was found. My assumption is that probably someone went out and left the door open and the snake managed to slither in.
It was a very big snake and multi-colored. What makes it even more mysterious is that my entire house is tiled, there are no shrubs nor bushes around, the entire neighborhood is built-up, so, I am still at a loss at how a snake that big could make its way into my house,” he recalled.
On how the snake was eventually killed, Obineche narrated that the task was neither easy nor difficult because the snake made no attempt to either escape or hide it was just lying there in plain sight all curled up. So, those who killed it had to be careful to avoid missing the head while attempting to kill it, as the head of the snake was hidden from sight.
According to the person who killed the snake, he had to be extremely careful as the snake tucked the head into its body so he had to first get the snake to move to get a clear shot of the head, because if he just struck the snake and missed the head, the snake might be provoked to attack. So, he made a sound that prompted the snake to unfurl itself, as soon as the snake unfurled and started slithering away, armed with a big stick, the man struck a couple of times and killed it.
For Titilayo Ayantunji Adenike, June 21, 2017, will forever remain indelible. Her sojourn to serve her father’s land through the mandatory National Youth Service would have ended on a sour note if fate hadn’t intervened. On the day, a viper found its way into her room and nestled itself in one of her sports shoes, what would have happened if one of her hostel mates hadn’t seen the snake when it was slithering into her room and she had attempted to slip into her shoes is better left unimagined.
“I was outside my hostel and playing with my friends when one of my hostel mates raised the alarm that he saw a snake entering my room. He only saw the tail when he raised the alarm. We started searching for the snake and turned the room upside down, after a long search that spanned more than two hours, the snake was eventually found hidden in one of my sports shoes and it was eventually killed,” she narrated.
Similarly, for Luke Erukakpome, a student at Delta State University, Abraka, a routine visit to the toilet would have ended tragically but for Providence. Lying in wait in his toilet bowl was a big black snake and you can imagine what would have happened if he had not had a torchlight with him at the time.
Hear him, “it was around 7.34pm when I visited the toilet to pee, somehow, something just told me to use the torchlight that I had with me to view the bowl before going ahead with my business. I saw a big black stuff below the water in the toilet seat, I was shocked and I began to wonder what it could be since I had just used the toilet a few hours ago.
Lo and behold it was a big and horrible looking snake, I raised alarm and called the caretaker of the hostel where I lived, he came and confirmed it. The snake was so big that we couldn’t devise how to kill it. For more than two hours, the snake was there until we called the attention of the local vigilante group who were finally able to kill the snake with the aid of a gun. It was suspected that the snake might have come in through the toilet’s soak-away pit,” he narrated.
The Olatokuns returned from the annual Holy Ghost Convention in August unaware of the danger that was lying in wait at home. The eldest of the Olatokuns, a young girl of about 12 years old was in the living room when she raised the alarm that she saw something that looked like a snake. The mother dismissed her with a wave of the hand and went on with what she was doing.
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A few days later, the mother while trying to prepare dinner for family in the kitchen noticed a slithering object just by the kitchen window. Since it was dark and there was no power, she couldn’t really make out what it was. She called on her daughter to bring her a torchlight so she could see what it was. And to her utmost dismay, it was a snake and all hell was let loose.
Her high-pitched scream drew the attention of neighbours who rushed out to find out what was responsible for the commotion and thus began a frantic search for the snake, who upon sensing danger, had slithered away into hiding.
“For several days, we turned the house upside down searching for the snake to know where it is hiding so we can kill it or evacuate it from the house. It took us almost a month before we could see where it was hiding in an enclosure in the house. At first, I had to run away from the house with my children as I could not bear the thought of living in the same house with a reptile since my husband does not live with us, but after several days, I had to return,” she said.
Speaking further, Mrs. Olatokun said the weeks the snake spent in the house were the most harrowing period in her entire life as she lived in constant fear every day.
“You know it is one thing to be unaware that you have a snake living in the same house with you. What you don’t know does not hurt. But in this case, I saw the snake with my own eyes, my daughter also saw it and for several weeks, we were co-habiting in the same house. It was a harrowing experience,” she recalled with a shudder.
Why incidents of snakes in homes are on the rise –Wildlife Expert
A snake expert, Wildlife Management Expert and Associate Professor, Department of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Uyo, Dr Edem A. Eniang said snakes most times wander into homes in search of food and nesting sites or find themselves inside purely by accident. According to him, any area that is infested with frogs, lizards, birds, and rodents potentially attracts snakes. He posited that they most times gain entrance through small holes and cracks at ground level and depending on their sizes, they may even be able to slither in under gaps in doors and once inside the house, they travel throughout the house inside walls, and pipes.
He however lamented the killings of snakes and will rather prefer that the snakes are removed from the house and relocated to a safe habitat. “As a result of urbanization and the generally bad impression the public has of snakes, snakes have been dying off at alarming numbers. Snakes losing their habitat often find new habitat in gardens, chicken pens or even homes. This puts snakes in danger of coming into contact with humans as almost all such encounters will result in the snakes being killed on sight or fatal bite to humans if it involved a venomous snake. Situations such as this can be avoided if people are more aware of snake behaviours. Most snakes would rather seek to escape than attack when confronted with humans. The general consensus is fear, people kill to protect themselves from what they see as threats,” he posited.
Tips on how to rid your environment of snakes
As much as we don’t want to think about snakes, we need to take some precautions now that the weather has heated up and snakes are coming out of hibernation. Here are some ways to ensure a serpent-free existence:
Inspect your home, paying special attention to the gaps under doors. Use weather stripping to seal up any visible holes.
Also check your yard. Like humans, snakes are looking for food and shelter. Long grass and thick landscaping serve as great shelter for insects and rodents, otherwise known as “breakfast, lunch and dinner” to serpents. Insure there are no cracks in the foundation to your house. If there are, seal them immediately.
Watch your wood piles. These are great spots for snakes to hide. Also, know your neighbourhood. There are certain areas that are prone to snakes. And if you live in such areas you need to take extra precautions.
There are also claims of snake repellants in the market, as well as old-fashioned myths, including, tobacco plants, moth balls and lemon grass. These claims have not been substantiated, so, prevention is better than cure.
What to do in the event of a snake bite -Expert
According to a medical expert who preferred anonymity, each snake bites and their venom differs, so the treatment should be tailored to suit the specific snake bite.
“The first thing to be done is to apply a tourniquet above the site of bite; the movement of the victim should also be minimized to forestall the rapid spread of the venom. As soon as the victim is stabilized, he or she should be moved to the Medical Centre immediately. There are neurotoxic snake venoms that cause paralysis and death in few minutes and hemolytic snake venom that are proteinaceous and cause breakdown of the red blood cells. So, as we have different snake venoms, so should the anti-venom be specific for it to be potent,” he said.
The expert who has been conducting research into snake venoms for over 15 years urged the government to pay more attention to the production of anti-venom as most medical centers in the country are in huge shortage of anti-venoms.
In his words, since “anti-venom is a critical antidote for snake bite, government needs to step up efforts in the production of indigenous and potent snake anti-venom. The antisera should be monovalent and polyvalent and should be well distributed in all Accident, Poison and Emergency centres around the country,” he advised.