CROCODILE TRAINING : PART FIVE

The launch of Crocodile Enrichment Training Demo

“Soham, you’ve gotta make sure that your training group performs well on the day” said Patrick – Director, Madras Crocodile Bank, looking a bit concerned.

He had a good reason for concern. We were launching the ‘Croc Enrichment Training Program’ for public. People can buy an extra ticket and watch the enrichment show. Crocs get enriched life, Croc Bank makes some extra bucks for conservation, and people get to see how smart and awesome these guys are. Super idea!

**Flashback a couple of months**

“We should really materialize the enrichment show now. It can be a great attraction, and it has a great potential to work as an educational tool” said Gerry Martin – Education Consultant, Madras Crocodile Bank. “We’ve been going on talking about the possibility since a long time now. Let's take it forward”

“Yeah man, that’ll be fun! I’m all ready” I said smiling; though I wasn’t sure as Ally and gang had never performed in front of a crowd. They usually chicken out (underwater!) when they see a lot of people. Getting them used to a big crowd would take some efforts; but it will be very interesting. It will give me a chance to see how far I can go with enrichment training, how much can I influence them, how much of the behavior can actually be modified. Should I have tried all of this first before opening my big mouth? Eeh.. too late now.. Just look confident…

“So when do you think we’ll open up for public” I asked hoping I’ll get some good time to sort things out with my crocs.

“A couple of months maybe”

“Okay!” Can’t laze around anymore!

Soon me, Gerry and Patrick were discussing future renovation plans to make the enclosure look better. Also, these crocs were reaching an age where they start displaying dominance and start establishing their rank in the hierarchy. All around 8-9 years old. It was getting a bit dangerous at times working with 6, very agile crocs, all at the same time. If I spend more time with one, the others would lose patience and sneak up.

“We need some sort of partition in the enclosure to start with” I suggested. Only I knew how important it was to get that damn partition finally! Now, with the partition, I would be able to work with one croc at a time without worrying about getting ambushed. What a relief that would be :)

I drew some basic fence designs which were fine, and then I drew a basic grandstand design which made a lot of sense to me, but not so much to others. Need to enhance the grandstand design with some figures; who’d do it better than Steven Whealing, our then all round volunteer. Thanks Steve for that one! Our current grandstand is based on your design.

With the fence up, I now had to set up a regular routine to streamline the crocs’ entry, performance, and exit. But hey, what about the crowd factor? How do I gather a crowd?

“We’ll call all the staff and volunteers” suggested Akanksha.

Good idea, but I was a bit skeptical. I tried to utilize every opportunity of an induced crowd. The crowd was requested to behave like an Indian crowd; talk loudly, whistle, clap for no reason, try to distract me and the crocs, etc. Our long term volunteers and docents were usually forced to be the crowd!

**Flashback over**

Progress was going on fine. I was ready. Crocs were ready. I had also geared up the big Muggers in pen 8 for a walk on the wooden ramp.

 "Rambo", the new dominant male in pen 8

Photo by Keerthi Krutha

But can an event go fine without a dent? Nope, not in my life!

On the morning of ‘the day’, I woke up to a loud motor noise.

“Oh duck! (I changed the first letter to maintain decency)”

Crocs can get freaked out very easily. We were maintaining a very calm environment all these days. We also requested the temple people across the road to lower the volume of festive songs after 13:00hrs. This motor noise can ruin the whole day! If they get spooked, they will not perform, as simple as that. Our maintenance department decided to choose that day to empty out some of the septic tanks, how interesting..

I could only wait and watch.

Janaki and Rom arrived a couple of hours before the launch. Janaki had called earlier to set up a time when she could take some pics of me and Ally for her article. I thought of working with her would be a good idea now. This might make Ally a bit more comfortable before the show.

“Hey Janaki, jump in!”

Ally came out but was not quite comfortable. I was a bit anxious. She is the star and if she doesn’t perform well, it’s gonna be a disaster…. or maybe not, some or the other croc will perform. The show won’t go blank.

Guests started arriving at 16:00hrs. Gerry, Rom, and Patrick were leading the group on a guided tour. Croc Bank Docents did a fantastic job coordinating the whole event.

Gerry addressing the guests
Photo by Shafeeq Ahmed

  

Jaws III, our largest croc was in top form that day. Gave a jaw-dropping performance!

Jaws III was super active!
Photo by Gowri Mallapur

Now is the time for my gang; Ally and co.

I started with an introductory speech, explaining the importance of enrichment training, and how it also works as a management as well as an educational tool. I emphasized on how it is primarily a husbandry approach, and is for the welfare of crocs. The “show” part of it is only secondary. I also mentioned (of course!) that they were performing in front of a full capacity crowd for the first time; apologies for any misbehavior or non-performance. I jumped in thinking this would not be as good as expected considering the spooky, noisy morning; just hoped for the best.

“Guys, please don’t let me down” I passed on the message in subsonic frequency.

Grand performance by "Ally"
Photo by Shafeeq Ahmed

I was awesomely surprised when they all performed brilliantly, Ally especially. Far better than I expected. They were fantabulous! I wanted to hug all of them, but I could only imagine that. The show went superb. How could I underestimate them so much?!

All the excited guests were guided to the tent for Rom’s presentation. I stayed back for some time.

“You guys really made me proud today!” another one of those subsonic conversations.

I glanced at all of them with a big smile on my face. I looked at Ally.

“Thanks Ally”

 I promise I saw her wink!

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Unique adaptation of vine snakes

Adaptation, in its many forms, is the most common phenomenon, and is always survival oriented. Survival is of course, the most crucial game for any animal, a game where losing is not an option, but is often the result.

We humans have come so far is because of our little adaptations; all the ‘out of the box’ experiments. But are we the only ones doing that?

Nope!

Our way of life is very typical, and some animals have noticed that. These animals have now adapted well enough to get a prefix ‘House’ before their names! House sparrows, House crows, House spiders, House ants, House geckos, House rats, House this, House that. Isn’t it smart thinking as opposed to staying away from predators (us)?

Some of most obvious adaptations are witnessed in the urban setting. Monkeys (Langurs and Macaques) raiding kitchens; “stealing” food, Crows and bats catching insects by the street light posts after dark, Black kites living almost exclusively on offal, cockroaches in drainage pipes, spiders in your computer… There are just so many of them.

Pests! What about pests? They are super adaptive, aren’t they?

It is the change in environment that forces the inhabitants to adapt for a better life; after all, losing the game is not an option. The ease of adapting to something is equivalent to smart innovation in human language. But, not every human is smart and it is no different in other animals either. Let’s get to a fresh example of a brand new adaptation and evaluate the smartness!

June 16, 2010

“Whoa! Did you hear that?!?” I said to Akanksha with a big smile. A big smile because I could make a good guess of what was happening!

Anything exciting at midnight is usually fun!

“Something’s caught a frog!” said Akanksha, equally excited now. I was of course proud of her to guess that accurately.

I rushed out with a torch and WHOAAA! This thing was right outside my room! Of all the possible predators, this was leeeast expected. A Common vine snake!!!

“Camera! Camera! Get the camera….. quick”  Fortunately the snake can’t hear me yelling.

Ahaetulla nasuta feeding on Polypedates maculatus

“Wow, that was awesome!”

Croc Bank is an awesome place providing an ideal habitat for a lot of native species. Amidst the shoreline ecology, Croc Bank is a mini semi evergreen forest system with more than 135 native plant species.

It almost stays the same all year round

With over 60 species of birds, 30+ species of herps and some resident and occasional mammals, and tons of invertebrates, the faunal checklist is pretty impressive for a 7 and a half acres area.

So what is the big deal if you see a snake catching a frog?!? Well, the Common vine snake Ahaetulla nasuta is supposed to be a diurnal snake, and the guy we saw was hunting at midnight! Now, that is interesting.

Active herpers would know that Ahaetulla are best spotted at night when they are sleeping / resting in bushes and scrubs. I had never seen or heard of this species actively hunting at night, so I was pretty excited about it. This can’t be a coincidence, can it? 

When I get excited, I get curious too. 

June 18, 2010

A couple of days later, me and Akanksha were returning from Chennai. We had just entered from the Irula Cooperative gate on my motor bike, and saw a vine snake crossing the road.

“Vine snake! Watch out..!” exclaimed Akanksha.

This was at 22:00hrs! There is something more than coincidence here. I was sure.

I must ask someone, and who would be better than the reptile guru himself – Rom Whitaker!

“Hmm, interesting. Good if you share your observations with the ARRS gang as there are tons of  vine snakes there and seem to sleep deeply at night, but who knows?” Rom wrote back.

June 19, 2010

I decided to be on night duty! I might see more if I look for them. The next night, I was roaming around at night, all over the place. Came back after an hour and a half; hot and sweaty.

“Gotta go drink some water. Man, I feel dehydrated.”

I glanced at the planted fence on the South side of the canteen before entering the kitchen for a cold glass of water. Green, green, green, vine snake, green, green….

“I must be really dehydrated!” I was thinking while I was filling up water. Mind’s playing games.. or is it..?

I went back and could see a typical green color. “Oooh man, that IS a vine snake! Super!”

Camera, notepad, pen and I’m ready. Wait a minute.. Now I can see 2 vine snakes.. Damn, should have finished the glass of water. 
No wait... there ARE 2 snakes! Jackpot..! :)

2 vine snakes. Bad picture quality, good timing.

These 2 were typically exploring the area as they do while hunting, carefully scanning the fence and were checking out anything that moved in the wind. Time check: 22:50hrs.

I sat there taking notes for 2 and half hours till they decided to push off, both in opposite directions. This was getting more and more interesting now. So this is not just one snake. There are at least 3; the first one was around 28 inches long, and now these 2; around 40 inches and 34 inches in length.

Is it a trend across the species? Or is it a local adaptation of the resident population?

July 25, 2010

I was still herping out at nights, trying out my luck. I wished I could go out more regularly. Didn’t see anything in the driveway that night. I was on my way back when I just recalled a distinctive similarity in the hunting strategy of those vine snakes. They were all utilizing the artificial lights! Well, except the one I saw on the driveway, but the rest were.

“Oh yes, the first one caught a frog right under a bulb outside our room. Second one was in pitch dark in the driveway, but it was on its way to some place. Third and fourth were again in the fence that was lit up by the lights from canteen!” I said to myself.

“May be I should go back and look around the canteen area”

I was all smiles when I reached canteen. This time, on a low branch of a tree on the North side :)

A nice specimen, around 36 inches long, was scanning the area below it. Amazingly, it didn’t quite get bothered by my presence. I went back to my room to get the camera, notepad and a pen. I knew it was going to be a longish observation, so made myself some coffee. Time check: 23:10hrs.

I sat there taking notes for over an hour until I saw the body language change. It was – ‘Target locked’

I could see a Bark gecko climbing up a tree nearby. The moving gecko just froze 12 inches away from the snake. Then, there  was a looong wait. 17 full minutes.., before it started climbing up again.

I could see the snake getting ready to strike as the gecko went closer.

“8 inches..”

“6 inches..”

“5 inches…”

...and WHOOSH.. A lightning fast strike; bang on target!

Ahaetulla nasuta swallowing a Hemidactylus leschenaultii

Super awesome adaptation by these guys, eh?

But again, we do find several sleeping at night regularly. Like I said earlier, not all of us are smart! :)

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Snake-bite management >> India

Snake-bite is one of the more serious health issues, especially in India where deaths due to snake-bites (I am referring to venomous snake-bites) are estimated well over 50,000 every year. Even though actual envenomation takes place less often, it is best to stay prepared for an emergency. This is not only for people residing in remote rural areas (who are the majority victims) but also for urban city residents. There has been a transformation of habitat for snakes from forest systems >> farmlands >> villages >> towns >> cities, but owing to their extraordinaire adaptive nature, they have managed to survive everywhere. No doubt there are only a few common species that are found in and around human habitation, unfortunately the list includes the BIG 4!

Spectacled Cobra Naja naja (Elapidae)

Common Krait Bungarus caeruleus (Elapidae)

Russell's Viper Daboia russelii (Viperidae)

Saw-scaled Viper Echis carinatus (Viperidae)

These four species make up the BIG 4 medicinally important snakes of India. They are lethally venomous and occur commonly throughout most of India. Of course there are other species that too demand utmost respect like other cobras Naja spp., kraits Bungarus spp., coral snakes Calliophis spp. and Sinomicrurus sp., King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah, sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) and some pit vipers (Viperidae). Bites are however rare from these mostly because of their distribution and biological pattern.

Most of the snake-bites take place unknowingly when the snake is accidentally threatened; while in other cases, well some people just ask for it!

Whatever be the reason, it is not unlikely that you might end up in a situation where a simple strategy and presence of mind can prove to be a limb-saver, in some cases, a life-saver.

The snake-bite management strategy is presented below; and presence of mind, well, I just hope you have it!

Suck out venom

Make incision to bleed out venom

Go to traditional healers or anything similar

Try out home remedies

Apply tourniquets

Apply ice

Clean out the bitten part

Try and catch/kill the snake

All of the above activities either do not work or are extremely dangerous to perform. In fact, they will do more harm than good.

Following is what you can and should do:

+ Make sure the victim and others are at a safe distance away from the snake

+ Try to memorize the snake’s appearance (from a safe distance!)

+ Remove watches / rings / other jewelry from the bitten part

+ Keep the victim calm and reassured

+ Do not panic

+ Try to immobilize the bitten limb; do not make the victim run and avoid making him/her walk if possible
+ In case of neurotoxic bites (All elapids and hydrophiids: Cobras, King cobras, kraits, coral snakes and sea snakes), pressure immobilization (Sutherland method) with long crepe or other stretchy bandage (5 - 10 cm wide, several rolls) and splint to be applied immediately to the bitten limb, starting at the digits and working up to the groin or arm pit.

+ Do not waste any time and arrange for a quick transport to the nearest hospital treating snakebite cases, as safely and comfortably as possible

+ If possible, note the time of bite and progression of symptoms

+ Describe the snake and the whole incident to the attending doctor

*Anti Snake Venom Serum is the only cure*

If your neighborhood has a high density of snakes, it is advisable to prepare a snake-bite protocol (plan of action in case of an emergency) best suited to you. This can simply be important contact people and numbers who should be informed first, name / address of nearest hospital treating snake-bites, best mode of transport and related details, name / contact no. of doctor, etc. Make sure all family members understand their role in an emergency.

As always, prevention is better than cure

+ Do not walk around with bare feet outside your house.

+ Take great care when clearing vegetation, raking dry leaves in your garden.

+ Supervise kids in the outdoors, especially in a green neighborhood.

+ Use torch/flashlight at night and keep wearing those shoes. Check shoes before wearing them.

+ Watch your step and see before you sit!

+ Keep your backyard free of junk and make sure your solid waste is managed properly.

+ If you see a snake, do nothing. Let it go. Do not try to pick it up or kill it.

+ If a snake has entered your premises, call professional snake rescuers.

Snake-bite is painful, expensive and extremely risky. Please do not get bit.

Stay safe!

Tree snake >> Skink >> Surprise!

Croc Bank was hosting a zoo keeper’s training program on ‘Captive management of reptiles’ for all South Indian Zoos. A couple of days were hosted at the Chennai Snake Park Trust; ‘Snakes’ and ‘Lizards’.

Previous day was quite fun especially because snakes are my favorite animals and I took all the lectures and practical sessions. I worked hard till late night after coming back from the ‘snake day’ to prepare for the ‘lizard day’.  I have to convince myself “this is close to what I want”, till then I consider the work incomplete. This takes a long time and I rarely impress myself.

Anyway, so I was coming back to my room from the office at around 01:00am (yeah, that’s how long it takes!) and I saw something shiny crawling in the grass outside Akanksha’s office. “Snake” – is what I would have loved to see… but wait a minute… that’s a…. FISH!?!  A snakehead fish! Suddenly, I wasn’t sleepy any more.

Snakeheads are found locally and we keep a few in our water filtration tanks. They are so cool. Once, while emptying one of the filtration tanks for cleaning I saw one big snakehead leap out of the water and cover around 15 feet! It sadly landed on land with a thud and then started vocalizing! I put it back in water with no physical injuries. I love them. They are awesome.

A snakehead in the underwater gharial filtration tank

I knew Channids breathe air with their suprabranchial organ but do they cover distances on land? I remembered the instance of the climbing perches last monsoon. That was so crazy! Here is the video.

This snakehead was at least 20 feet away from the filtration tank and was heading towards the opposite direction of the tank! So many questions popped up but most of them ended up with the same “why?”

I started listing the environmental factors that may have triggered this behavior. Everything seemed fine for a predatory fish living in a planted tank, except for one thing may be. This is summer; low water table in natural ponds. If these fishes do actually travel on land in search for other water bodies may be then it does make sense, especially because the fish stock of this particular filtration tank was freshly acquired. I would assume that the instincts might have made them take the decision to crawl out in search of other water body. But then in that case, the tank is that water body; nice, deep, planted and lots of food fishes!

I keep saying that we often assume things in the field of natural history but the reality is more often completely different (but always logical). In my experience, all predatory animals are extremely smart. The best logical explanation that I could derive out of this behavior is that the fish knows it was caught by a ‘potential predator’ and is now kept in an enclosed environment where it can get caught again. The first reaction to captivity - is escape, be it a bird, a mammal (including humans) or a fish. So was the fish smart enough to figure out that humans are not around at night and thus is the best time to escape? But then what about the other predators? May be the fish doesn’t know about them yet. By this time I reached my room. That was a very thoughtful 2 minute walk after releasing the fish back in the tank. Most of the questions still remain unanswered.

So where are the tree snake and the skink?

Well, they come in action the next day morning. The breakfast was arranged at Jade resort, about a couple of minutes drive from Croc Bank. After breakfast, I had to collect some stuff from the Croc Bank on the way to the Chennai Snake Park. Patrick, Gowri and Akanksha were also to accompany us from there. While we were coming out of the gate between the Yacare caiman and Arrican dwarf crocs exhibit, I saw a Bronzeback tree snake Dendrelaphis tristis shoot down off the wall of the dwarf croc enclosure. The snake was partially visible to me with a Neem tree obstructing the visibility. To me, it looked like it was escaping from us. Just then Patrick exclaimed “Hey, it’s hunting something!”

Sure enough, we saw a Brahminy skink Mabuya carinata rush out of the plantation.

Skink (Mabuya carinata) on stone wall

It climbed the wall as fast as it could and they are good climbers, but so is the Bronzeback! I could not believe the speed at which the snake climbed. There was like a 10 – 12 cms gap between the two when the chase was on. The skink smartly entered the dry coconut leaf wall touching the wall with all hopes of losing the snake, and it did work, for about 30 seconds. That was the most active snake that I had ever seen. It was super alert, constantly smelling the air and the leaves, reacting to every vibration (every time the skink moved in the leaves) and had the most watchful eyes. We all were stationed trying to guess what will happen next. At the beginning we thought the skink will obviously get away but now looking at the snake’s determination and its physical capabilities, may be not much of an escape for the skink. But who knows? The skink was fast too and was running for his life.

The skink was climbing up and down the leaves trying to confuse the snake but snake was following the scent trail so efficiently, and was also gaining speed every minute. For once they both disappeared. The skink came out first but without the tail! Did the trick work? Couldn’t see the snake anymore. The skink now started climbing the leaf wall. It suddenly looked alert and then jumped from a height of about 8 feet!

“What the…… !“

And in the same second I saw the Bronzeback strike in air but obviously missed. I have seen this with rat snakes before but for the first time I saw a Bronzeback jump from the same height and almost land next to the skink!

“WHAT THE…… !!!”

It was a rough landing for the snake and took a few seconds to recover. These few seconds were crucial for the skink and it wasted no time. It was back in the leaf wall in a flash and now on the stone wall on the other side, relaxed for a bit. I could see its tiny heart pumping real hard. Phew, those were some adrenaline filled moments. I was so excited! Everything was happening so fast that I didn’t really get a chance to photo-document anything. May be now I should take a photo of the winner in the battle of survival today. I take my camera out, try to focus on the exhausted skink. Just then the skink starts running again!

It tries to jump off the wall but this time it's a bit too late..

The Bronzeback caught the skink in mid air!

M I D   A I R!!!

Adrenaline was overflowing now. WOW! That was amazing; the best hunt ever!

The skink was trying to bite the snake but all in vain. I could see the venom was working fast as the skink was becoming more and more lethargic in its struggle.

Skink now losing hope

Now the snake was a bit wary of us. This was typical of most predators after a successful hunt, less often seen in snakes though. Bronzebacks are a bit different. They carry their catch in a safe area and then swallow it. I had once seen one that fell off a tree with a small evening bat in its mouth. It then carried the bat to the safety of the cactus fence and swallowed it. Swallowing a bat takes time especially when the spread-out claws keep getting stuck in everything. This happened right outside the round-house in Croc Bank.

This snake was also carrying the skink in its mouth and now started to move towards the cactus fence where it will swallow the hard earned catch.

Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis) carrying the skink away

Finally it all ended…

… or did it?

A male Garden lizard Calotes versicolor was patiently watching all the action. It was on the same side of the wall where the snake was heading to. The calotes climbed the stone wall and confronted the snake with open mouth!

Calotes versicolor confronting the Dendrelaphis

The snake tried to ignore the situation and tried to sneak past it but the calotes had other plans. He attacked the snake, bit it on the neck and tried to snatch the dead skink away! The snake freaked out and jumped off the wall and landed on our side. It let go of the skink and escaped in the bush. The calotes was not confident enough to come and get the skink in our presence and so he retreated. I felt bad for the snake. After all that, it finally didn’t get anything. Patrick spotted the snake again and aimed the dead skink close to the snake. No response.

We were getting late and had to move. No clue who took the skink finally. I bet the garden lizard did see us throw the skink and I’m pretty sure he would have claimed the booty! But who knows if it ended at that..

What a start to the day! Awesome!

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