In the hugely popular novel series Harry Potter, snakes are featured in virtually every episode of the series. Snakes, symbolising evil, is the totem of Lord Voldemort in the novel. As far as certain religions and cultures are concerned, snakes also serve as the symbol of evil power. When seeing a snake, most of us feel under threat. In fact, fears originate from our ignorance and lack of deep understanding. Have you ever wondered why you are afraid of snakes?
The snake species in Hong Kong are actually mostly very shy. They will only become aggressive and attempt to attack human beings when feeling under threat. As snakes are extremely sensitive to sound and ground vibration, they very often escape before being spotted!
More than 50 snake species can be found in Hong Kong. Among the 14 venomous native land snake species, only eight can inflict fatal bites if not treated in time, such as Many-banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus) and King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). The remaining six venomous species, e.g. the well-known Bamboo Snake (Trimeresurus albolabris), produce milder venom that rarely leads to death. Some snake species look fairly alike. For example, the non-venomous Greater Green Snake (Ptyas major) is, very often mistaken for the venomous Bamboo Snake, hurt or even beaten to death by human beings, for both of them are light green and similar in size.
From an ecological point of view, snakes play a balancing role in food webs, thereby maintaining the ecosystems. They are not only the prey of animals such as eagles and owls, but also the predators of various insects and small mammals, therefore beneficial to pest control. In some areas, if without snakes to prey on rodents, the latter would reproduce in large numbers, causing rodent infestation.
As one of the most widely misunderstood animals, snakes are facing serious threats because of the rapid development of our society, leading to a significant decline in population. In Hong Kong, the human-snake conflicts, habitat destruction and road kills are among the main threats. If encountering snakes in future, please remain calm and leave them alone! We should bear in mind that snakes are even more scared of human beings. Snakes are part of the nature in the first place. It is us who have encroached on the snake's backyards, and we must not dominate at the expense of snakes. We should try our best to live harmoniously with them instead.