The Three Snakes
Naputt Thiravorachai
©
Copyright 2021 by Naputt Thiravorachai
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Over
the course of my life I have encountered three different snakes, not
to
mention
various others. I do not know whether it is a stroke of luck to meet
such interesting and exotic animals, or a series of unfortunate
encounters. As a child, I grew up in my grandmother’s house.
The house had a big garden out in front, which would become the area
for the majority of my wildlife encounters. When I was a child of
some age below 7, I came face to face with an enormous green python.
It was in my grandmother’s garden, lazing about on the swing. I
froze, not out of fear, but out of curiosity. At that age, I had only
ever seen cartoon snakes and illustrations in books. Seeing a python
the size of my dad in real life was extremely fascinating. Luckily, I
made the smart decision to go tell my mother about the reptile in the
garden. One phone call later, 5 men arrived, captured the snake in
the bag, and left. My last memory of that snake was it’s
elongated body being bundled up into a cardboard coloured
sack.
I
did not have such exciting encounters for a while, until 2007, when
an entire swarm of butterflies decided to use the garden as a resting
area. Oh what a swarm it was! Hundreds of Monarch butterflies
fluttered through the air, hopping from flower to flower, resting on
tree branches. Every inch of the garden was covered with butterflies,
much like a fairytale kingdom in a movie. Of course being a child, I
wanted to catch them and put them in jars. After learning about
Charles Darwin in the comic book “Sandwalk”, the notion
of butterflies in jars felt very adventurous. I released them
afterwards of course, the 7 year old me was not very keen on seeing
pretty butterflies die. Thinking back on it, I’m still not
quite sure whether they were Monarch or Viceroy butterflies. Perhaps
I will never know. They stayed in the garden for three days before
proceeding to fly off, continuing on their long journey.
A
couple of months afterwards, a different kind of flying creature came
visiting. After my morning jog, I discovered a bat sleeping in a
tree. It was a short tree with a very bushy top, blocking most of the
sun, making it an ideal sleeping place for a bat. It seemed tired and
possibly injured. This was another one of my firsts. I highly
appreciated being able to see a real bat up close in a tree. It had a
small body with leathery wings. It hung onto a branch and slept very
still, surrounded by shade. It looked fragile and cute, much like a
small stuffed animal. I left it to sleep in peace for the morning. As
evening arrived, I went back to the tree to check on my mammalian
guest. The bat was still in the same spot as before. My mother cut a
mango and some grapes and put it on a wooden chair below the tree. We
hoped that it might feel better after eating some fruits. Only a
partially eaten mango and several missing grapes remained in the
morning.
Unfortunately,
not all my animal encounters would be so nice. At 12 years of age I
met a stray street dog. It was peeing at the cement driveway in front
of my garden, marking it as his territory. This was no one’s
pet, but a dog raised by the harsh alleyways of modern civilisation.
Normally the garden would have a big gate in front, preventing stray
dogs from entering, but some careless person had opted to leave it
open that morning. For what seemed like a very long moment, I stared
at the dog’s eyes. It stared back at me. I thought about the
broom on the other side of the garden. In that long instant, we both
realised the rules of our game. Either I would run fast enough to get
the broom as a weapon, or he would sink his canine jaws into me. I
bolted across the garden, making a beeline for the wooden broom. My
heart hammered in my chest, the sounds of my feet striking the
ground, and the panting noises of my dogged pursuer. The panting
sounds closed in on me, telling me that victory was in his jaws. I
partially wondered how painful it would be to be mangled by a big
dog. Fortunately, I made it to the broom before being bitten. I
turned around with the broom in my grasp, ready to face my animal
assailant. The tables were turned; I chased the dog all the way back
across the garden and out onto the streets. Victory was mine. I made
sure to wash his urine off with a garden hose, just to make it clear
that this was my home and not his. I guess it goes to show that much
like people, not every animal you meet is going to play nice.
Speaking
of unfriendly animals, I met my second wild snake when I was 13. At
the time, my family was moving out of my grandmother’s house. I
was waiting on the front porch for my dad’s car, when I saw
some rustling within the bushes. Curiosity striking me again, I moved
closer to investigate. As I approached the bushes, I saw a pile of
pots. For an instant I saw a long scaly body with a beady brown eye.
Both me and the snake were very surprised to see each other,
prompting it to dart away immediately and making me jump back in
surprise. I was rather concerned about having a small snake wander
about in the garden, but found no trace of it afterwards. I would not
encounter wild animals for a while after moving house.
My
new home did not have a garden out in front, thus limiting my
encounters to the occasional sparrow or monitor lizard that happened
to cross my way. It would be until I went to Singapore that I would
meet the aforementioned third snake. This being my latest memory, I
have the most vivid recollection of it. At 16 years of age, I went to
Singapore to visit some family friends. We went to walk on Bukit
Timah hill. We split up into groups: I went with my sister and a
close friend, Faith and Por. We went walking to the highest parts of
the hill. On the path was a sign that told us about the wildlife
living here. One of the depicted animals was an emerald coloured
snake, whose exact species I have forgotten. Atop the path was a
suspension bridge. We walked behind a female couple. Halfway across
the bridge, the two ladies stopped, turning and whispering to one
another in an excited fashion. With my younger companions in tow, I
ventured up ahead to the couple to see what the fuss was. Three steps
ahead there was a beautiful, light emerald green snake resting on the
railing. It was looking around, trying to figure out where to go. You
would think I would be tired of seeing snakes at this point, but deep
down inside, I wanted to approach it. It was more vibrant than it’s
picture. It’s bright green scales blending in with the lush
green background. It looked very calm in its habitat, like me when I
lounge around on the sofa. I ushered Faith and Por ahead while I
stood between them and the snake. The snake paid us no mind and kept
resting on the bridge railing. Before leaving, I took some time to
admire the snake. I am not one to take pictures, but I do believe
that valuable memories should be remembered. Thus I took my time
admiring the peaceful nature of that beautiful green snake, then
continued walking along the hill path, leaving the fearful couple
behind with the snake.
My
name is Naputt Thiravorachai. I am at 20 years of age of Thai
nationality, a student at Melbourne University, and a person doing
their best to write. I grew up in Thailand for most of my life, spent
two years in Melbourne studying, but returned home due to Covid-19.
Most of my written works are for academic purposes, I have had no
published works as of yet.
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