A 41-year-old mechanic, Mohammed Ahmed, from Bhandup had a close shave on Tuesday after he was bitten by a Russel's Viper snake.
The incident occurred when Ahmed put his hand inside a shelf to get a tool. Volunteers of Resquink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) received the distress call and rushed to the spot only to find Ahmed sitting there.
"We had reached within 10 minutes of the call and saw him sitting holding his hands, which had a prominent bite mark. Our worst fears came true when we saw the snake and identified it to be the extremely venomous Russel's Viper. We immediately asked his friend to rush him to civic hospital," said Sagar K Pandhi, who along with Vivek Shethia, Niraj Bhanushali and Saiyyam Dharamshi rescued the snake and ensured Ahmed get the anti-snake venom (AVM).
"Even as members of an NGO, we were relieved that Ahmed is safe and even the people who saw the snake did not kill it and allowed it to be rescued and released later. They have now decided to take a lesson from this incident and initiated a specific awareness drives focusing on garages, ware houses, godowns which are open and since are cluttered with so many things, also act as perfect hideout for snakes," Pandhi added.
Stating that they will be putting up posters as well as photographs of various venomous and non-venomous snakes for easy identification, RAWW president Pawan Sharma said: "This incident has actually stirred us into thinking that it is extremely important to take the message of mitigating the conflict with snakes to these places that are a perfect hideout for snakes and other reptiles. Due to lack of basic steps not only a human life can be lost, but also people might kill snakes on just spotting them."
Sharma added that the volunteers will also ask people working in such units to take extra precaution during rains and winters when snakes come to find warmer places to maintain their body temperature. "We will advice people to take extremely basic steps like wearing gumboots if working on bare ground and in areas with lot of grass growing, having ample lighting all around, taking care of garbage and not storing things that can be used by reptiles to crawl inside it," he said.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Hussain — a relative of Ahmed, who has already been given four vials of ASV — said that he was glad the NGO helped in bringing him for treatment quickly.
"Doctors have said that he is stable and we are awaiting for the second blood analysis report. We only realised that the snake was extremely venomous after being told by the volunteers," said Hussain, adding that the family was extremely happy that timely treatment ensured Ahmed's safety.
