What’s up with all the cobras lately? The venomous snakes were sighted across several areas in Bali recently, putting the island among other regions throughout Indonesia that have seen multiple reports of cobras invading human settlements.
For starters, local residents of Bunutin community in Bali’s Tabanan regency found a cobra and 30 of its eggs on a field on Sunday.
“Yes, a 2.5-meter long snake was found along with its eggs on Sunday. They were taken to the Bali Reptile Rescue for research,” I Wayan Suardikayasa, chief of Bunutin community where the reptile was found, told Kumparan yesterday.
Suardikayasa says there have been four cobra sightings in his area in the past six months. While it has caused concerns among local residents, there have been no reports of the snakes attacking people or farm animals.
In Denpasar, officers from the Regional Disaster Management Agency’s (BPBD) also captured a number of snakes on Sunday, including one cobra at a shophouse in the city’s Gatsu Timur Street.
Indeed, cobra sightings have taken place across the country over the past few weeks, including the capital Jakarta, where 18 cobra hatchlings were caught at a house in Kembangan, West Jakarta, also on Sunday. Other reports of cobra sightings also came out of Jakarta’s satellite cities, as well as in West Java and Central Java.
According to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) cobras usually hatch around the beginning of the rainy season, which makes their recent sightings quite normal.
LIPI says we can keep snakes out of our homes by cleaning the floors with fragrant floor cleaners, as snakes dislike strong smells. It is also imperative to dispose food waste properly so as not to attract mice, which could attract snakes.
As cobra snakes are venomous, those who get bitten should follow the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for the Management of Snake Bites (which you can read here) and get yourself to a hospital for snake antivenom.
