Want a pet? A snake will do just fine

The prolonged cold spell has disrupted the lives of snakes, forcing them to become unwelcome visitors in city homes. Now, officials at the National Museums of Kenya are asking people to treat them humanely, even consider taking them in as pets.

Most snakes are running away from the biting cold in search of warmer places in bedrooms and kitchens. But when home owners spot them, their first reaction is often to kill them, or chase them away, if they lack the courage or skill to kill.

National Museums

Others call the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) or Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to collect them. In just two months, the Museum’s Snake Park section has received more than 20 calls requesting them to go and pick up snakes from houses.

NMK Snake Park Senior curator Rashid Kaka says the majority of snakes being killed are harmless, as they do not produce any venom and can be kept as pets. In Western and Asian countries, people even buy their children snakes as pets the same way we do with cats and dogs.

“We appeal to people not to consider all snakes enemies. They are suffering from cold weather the way we are,” he said.

Like cats, he says, harmless snakes can be used to control rodents, as they eat them. Other snake experts too want people to accommodate harmless snakes at home until the cold weather subsides as many freeze to death. They say the moment they get into the house, they are too weak after suffering in the cold.

Being cold blooded reptiles, snakes succumb to cold or hot weather due to their inability to regulate body temperature the way warm blooded mammals do.

Mr Jacob Mueti Ngwava, assistant research scientist at NMK, says the current cold weather is penetrating into the soil where snakes hibernate, forcing them to come into the open. Snakes tend to be attracted by warm human bodies, which explains why they often slide into beds.

But most people have no idea about such snake behaviour, and whenever they see a snake in the house, they believe that they are under attack. In many Asian countries, people eat snake meat and drink its blood as medicinal products.

But appeals to treat harmless snakes as a pet is going to be a tall order. First, only snake experts can differentiate between a venomous and non-venomous snake.

And even if people were willing to keep snakes as pets, many communities in Kenya and beyond consider rearing or keeping of snakes as a form of witchcraft. Those who keep snakes are shunned as they are believed to bring misfortune. When something awful happens, it is immediately attributed to them. In some areas, he or she is likely to be lynched.

Such a label of a witch will make it very difficult for people to even remotely think about keeping a snake as a pet. As city resident Ruth Omukhango says, “whether the snake is harmless or dead, I cannot see myself having it as a pet. Snakes should be killed on sight.”

“When I see a snake, I see a grave. I either flee or kill it,” adds Josephine Ong’ayo, a resident of Buru Buru estate. In the Bible, the snake is accused of tempting Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. Christians consider them satanic or evil.

In football, there are claims of people sprinkling snake blood around the stadium to make the opponent lose. Another issue is that a person intending to keep a snake must secure a licence from the KWS.

Equally demanding are the peculiar needs of the animal. A freezer for keeping their food, for instance, will have to be bought; a veterinary doctor will attend to it whenever it is sick; and a thermometer to ensure the snake’s temperature is not harmful to it, is required.