Wildbuzz: The ‘double engine’ serpent

The Red Sand boa, a non-venomous and rare snake of the tricity region, invariably befools the lay person. Its tail mimics the head and mouth and the species is bestowed the colloquial title of “Do Mohiya”, or the resonant codename of “double engine” in the grey market. A variant to this deception surfaced on Wednesday when tent house employees ahead of Dhakoli glimpsed “two big snakes” and a dozen small ones hiding under a pile of cloth.

The floods had ravaged the area and the outlet was awash with deep water. The employees had stacked the cloth in a dry corner.

There was, actually, only one adult boa, not two as seen by employees. The boa’s similar-looking tail and head had peeped out from underneath the pile and were promptly mistaken as two snakes.

What reinforced the error was the belief that if they were young ones there had to be a proverbial “joda”. However, fact is that a male snake “divorces” the female on coupling, leaving her to find a quiet, humid spot to deliver the young. The female does not bring up the offspring like birds do as snakelets are hard-wired to hunt on their own.

The single boa, a female, was swept in by the flood waters and had sought refuge under the pile where she delivered snakelets. All of them were rescued by the duo of veteran snake-rescue expert Salim Khan and Jitender Singh, the latter employed on contract with the Punjab forest and wildlife department, and released at a check dam in the foothills.

New Age superstitions drive criminals to extract boas from the wilderness and sell them at astronomical prices. Regional TV channels fuel the hysteria by marketing the boa as a divine and unique “Do Mohiya”. Gullible devotees are directed to illegally purchase a boa of minimum 3.5 kg (poachers force iron nuggetsdown a boa’s gullet to increase natural weight). Mythical benefits are assured upon a boa’s possession: iridium deposits, untold wealth and sexual resurrection.

Owls on a Tokyo menu

Owl eyes evoke a primaeval response in humans. They are domes of many-coloured glass, be they in globes of orange, gold, deep blue or white. Some owls have eyes so dark, deep and opaque that it seems one has, in a flash, acquired escape velocity from earth’s pull and is left gazing into a cosmic black hole. In India, very few have the opportunity to gaze deep into owl eyes because they cannot be kept as pets and they are restricted by zoo cages. However, if one were to visit Japan, the restricting laws in India are turned on their heads.

The Japanese government permits wild species cafes. So, unlike its namesake in Sector 7, Chandigarh, there is a real hedgehog cafe in Tokyo that offers these nocturnal creatures for petting and indulgence in exultations of “awsum, sooo cute [sic]”. Aashray Malik, an alumnus of Strawberry Fields High School and now headed for Ashoka University, toured Japan this month with family. The Maliks visited the world-famous Akiba Fukurou Owl Cafe in Tokyo after reservation charges of 2,000 Yen per head. Delving on the contradictory nature of his experience at the owl cafe, Malik told this writer: “We were required to maintain silence. Each one of us was allotted two owls for 45 minutes. All 40 owls had a nickname. They would perch on our shoulders or even the head. This was the first time I had seen owls so close and their beauty was pristine. They carried an aura of raw power. We were not allowed to feed them. Neither did the cafe offer food or beverages to customers. It was just quality time spent with the most bewitching birds of nature and getting a feel of the mystique that cloaks these phantoms of the night.”

Though entranced, Malik was also saddened by the owls’ plight. Were owls comfortable? Happy? These cafes face implacable criticism. Malik cited a published expose by a former employee of one of Japan’s owl cafes. The birds were leashed, crammed, deprived of water to reduce wastes and kept awake to satisfy customers. Poor vet care caused high mortality. Dead performers were delivered unceremoniously to secretive burials in backyards. More were bought and the show went on.