Travelers in the northeastern provinces who encounter any dying albino squirrels should immediately stop and render aid, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but to avoid any chance of Nagas returning to murder everyone – again.
A Udon Thani cop who used a twig yesterday to resuscitate an electrocuted albino squirrel was celebrated by grateful residents who hold to folklore that a serpentine Naga King once slaughtered inhabitants for cooking and eating his lovestruck son. It’s a long story, but the Naga prince was masquerading as a squirrel while in town.
Kumphawapi police 2nd Lt. Yongyuth Thitanon came to the rescue of the little rodent by grabbing its tail in one hand and diligently pumping the stick into its chest until its clenched body relaxed and could move again. The cop said he later released it back to the wild after it lived to scamper across electrical lines another day.
“Now [Yongyuth] is doing CPR on an electrocuted albino squirrel that fell in front of the interrogation room,” another cop can be heard narrating the clip. “Good. Now it returns to consciousness.”
Yongyuth said squirrels are seen raiding fruit every morning from trees outside the station. They use the power lines as a thieves highway to escape back into the nearby forest, and when Yongyuth saw one get zapped, he hurried to his human life-saving knowledge, bragging that he once brought an electrocuted monkey back from the great simian beyond. He said that he substitutes a twig for his finger because of ungrateful biters.
He noted the belief in Isaan that albino squirrels are sacred. While the region may be infamous for eating some unorthodox meats, albino squirrel isn’t on the menu because of folklore that a freshwater lake between Udon Thani and Sakon Nakhon provinces, was once a thriving city before it was overrun by the vengeful Naga King and his warriors, who sank it after a townie killed his son, who happened to be masquerading as a squirrel, and made a feast of his meat.
The legend has it that it was the Naga prince that had transformed into an albino squirrel to see the rocket fest and chase a princess he was infatuated with when he became someone’s lunch. Although his dying wish was for his delicious meat to be enjoyed by everyone in town, only those who didn’t take a bite survived the ensuing cataclysm.
Thus, Yongyuth won hearty a “Satu!” (“Amen!”) from many today for not risking another snake god apocalypse.
Related
Lopburi electrified by baby monkeys rescued from power lines
Isaan feast? Dog owner accuses neighbor of butchering, eating his pet
Reader Interactions