Dubai resident kills deadly snake at home

Khaleej Times wrote about the Al Warqa resident last week after he was inundated by deliveries for unsolicited goods. While those have now stopped, the drama has continued, when about 7pm on Monday evening, as he was in the garden with his family, he noticed a snake slithering up the stairs into his house.

Farhat said he grabbed two brooms and cornered the snake, identified by Dubai Municipality Wildlife and Zoo specialist Dr Reza Khan as a saw-scaled viper — the most deadly in the country. Khan said it was “very rare” to find one of these snakes in human dwellings, with the non-venomous hissing sand snake a much more common discovery.

“I held it (with a broom) and used the other one to hit it, but no matter how hard I was hitting, it was still trying to attack me...it was jumping, but it was killed eventually,” Farhat said, estimating the whole episode lasted about five minutes.

Farhat, who said the snake was only about 45 centimetres long but very aggressive, said he had been scared to tackle the 
snake but he did not have any other option.

“I didn’t lose my nerve. My kids and wife were around and they were all scared. I was the only one who could handle it, if I let it go, then it could go into 
the garden and become a bigger threat for us as well as our 
neighbours.” Farhat’s wife and four children, aged between eight and 17, were worried overnight as they had read online that other snakes would use their strong sense of smell and go to the location of a dead or wounded snake.

“We did not know what to do after we killed it — if there’s one there maybe more around it, you never know.”

When he spoke with the municipality officials on Monday evening, they had told him they would come to the house to inspect it and spray the area with a deterrent.

By Tuesday evening no one had appeared and if they did not, he said he would contract a private company in an effort to keep any future stray snake from 
wandering in.

“Some relatives, when I was moving to this area, warned 
me there could be snakes but I didn’t believe them...but now I believe it.”

Farhat said for now he and his family were hoping the next 
drama to hit would be a positive one.

Khan said while it was rare to hear of a snake being found in a house, those who lived in areas such as Al Khawaneej, Mirdif, Mushrif, Al Awir and areas beyond Jumeirah and the Mall of the Emirates “could expect a snake or two once in a while,” as these areas were built in their former habitat.

“These (areas) were snake country during the 1990s.”

There was also a seasonal pattern, with snakes moving from the sparse vegetation of the desert to human habitations in semi-desert areas with the advent of summer.

However, there had not been a noticeable number of snake finds recently and sightings appeared to be becoming less frequent, he said.

“In general, snake numbers are going down because human habitations or urbanisation takes over the land once occupied by snakes.”

How to handle a snake

Dubai Municipality Wildlife and Zoo specialist Dr Reza Khan advised anyone who found a snake in or near their homes to attempt to kill it with a strong stick. However, he underscored no one should kill snakes that are found in the desert, which is their natural habitat. Khan also requested people to take photos of the snakes and send them over to him through the municipality at info@dm.gov.ae, so he can identify the snakes.

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