Thailand Snakes End of Year Recap

Thailand Snakes End of Year Recap

Well, 2012 was a great year for herping, and I found a lot of snakes to add to the list of new species I’ve seen. I enjoyed the year quite a bit, and I was able to get out during the day a lot more than I have previously.

I have to say, the daytime snakes, with the exception of the King Cobra, and Monocled Cobras, are not all that worth going out in the heat for. I much prefer nighttime snake hunting.

During the night you can find not only the most interesting group of snakes, but many lizards, geckos, spiders, scorpions, bats, owls, centipedes, and other beasties. Nighttime is the right time for looking for snakes in Thailand.

I’ve had a number of requests from readers of the site and from Youtube viewers, to go herping this year that I just couldn’t manage. I have to say, I got dozens of requests this year to join people for herping, and for those that look at me as a tour guide to introduce them to the basics of snake hunting.

I have to say honestly – I’m not interested in joining beginners for herping in Thailand. I don’t enjoy the responsibility. I haven’t enjoyed in the past, people that couldn’t follow the few safety guidelines I gave them before we started.

I am interested in herping with experienced herpetologists and amateurs that know something already about snakes – whether native to Thailand or some other spot in the world. If I’m not learning anything during the excursion, then it isn’t really worth it for me.

I enjoy teaching people about snakes, but my time is so limited, I’ve got to be getting something out of it in the way of education, or it probably just isn’t worth it to me.

In the previous year, I had over 800 requests for identification of snakes – through the online form there in the upper right side of all web pages on the site. That’s pretty amazing. I wish I had the time to respond within 24 hours to each request I get, but again, time is at a premium and it usually takes me a few weeks, and even months, to respond to requests there.

Eventually, I do respond, so if you have a non-urgent snake ID request, submit it there and I’ll get to it as time permits.

If you have photos – just send them immediately to: info@thailandsnakes.com and I can usually respond within minutes. I am on the computer much of the day, and when I see a request with photos come over the email – I answer immediately. I answer fast because I don’t want the snake to be killed, if there is a chance of that.

Secondly, and of course, more importantly, I don’t want anyone to mess with dangerous snakes, so I want to ID it quickly and let people know if the snake might be deadly or dangerous.

In 2013 I hope to finally publish a free ebook I’ve been working on for a couple of months, Snakes of Thailand. This will be a book you can put on your mobile phone, iPad, computer, or whatever electronic device you have – so you can identify some of the snakes you see.

I’ll list some information in the book, but mostly it will be full of photos and some quick facts about whether it is deadly or not – along with some key identifying features to distinguish between snakes that look similar.

I have not posted many photos from viewers that sent them to be posted on the site in 2012. I have hundreds that I just didn’t have the time to post. I’m tremendously busy with some other pursuits and expect to have little free time in 2013 for fun stuff involving snakes.

If you want to write any articles about Thailand snakes, or any Thailand wildlife or environmental concerns – whether it includes snakes or not, send it to me by email. I may be open to posting it, depending on the content.

Have a great year!

Cheers,

Vern