Wild About Snakes PDF

# Wild About Snakes I woke up in the morning on my birthday. "What a funny dream," I thought. Then I went to find Mum and Dad. They had put up birthday decorations and made my favourite breakfast. "Happy birthday!" they said. I told them my dream: "Snakes ate all our biscuits and fruit so all w...

# Wild About Snakes I woke up in the morning on my birthday. "What a funny dream," I thought. Then I went to find Mum and Dad. They had put up birthday decorations and made my favourite breakfast. "Happy birthday!" they said. I told them my dream: "Snakes ate all our biscuits and fruit so all we had left to eat was plain rice!" 'I would not like to dream about snakes,' said Dad. 'We had to eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and there was nothing else at all! Not even a bit of sambar to go with it,' I said. 'Terrifying!' said Mum. 'Not at all,' I said, 'Snakes do not eat biscuits and fruit, they eat insects and small animals, like mice.' I liked learning about snakes from my favourite TV programme, *Snake Time*. Kumar Chandan was the host. He was also the author of a book called *The Complete Guide to Snakes*. There was a copy in the school library that I read a bit of every day. After breakfast, my parents gave me presents. The last one was a cloth bag. 'Look inside,' said Dad. 'Snakes!' I said, I pulled eight toy snakes out of the bag. 'Thanks!' Mum said, 'Grandma will be here soon. Take your toys into the other room while we get things ready here.' I put the snakes in various places and filmed them with Mum's phone. I was making videos, just like Kumar Chandan. I filmed the Russell's viper. I said, 'The Russell's viper has a flat, triangular head. Look, it has big nostrils. It has a round body and great markings.' I filmed the side of the snake and said, 'These snakes have a yellow background and dark spots. Look how the spots are brown in the middle, then black, and then there's a white outline.' The other snakes in the bag were a cobra, a king cobra, a common krait, a brightly coloured coral snake with red, black and yellow bands, a powerful-looking boa constrictor, a green anaconda, a black-and-white striped California kingsnake and a rattlesnake. Later, I lay on the floor, filming the krait, 'This common krait is highly venomous. Look at its white stripes...' A message for my mum made the phone buzz. 'I need to start again,' I thought. I rolled over to check the film. Just then Grandma came in. She said, 'Happy birthday sweetheart! Give me AHΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗ!' She screamed. 'Get a stick!' I was frightened and started to cry. Mum came running. 'It's a toy! Don't worry!' Mum told Grandma. 'Oh! I was so frightened!' said Grandma. She sat down. 'I thought that was a real snake.' 'I'm sorry, Grandma,' I said. 'Are you alright now?' Grandma said, 'When I grew up in the countryside, I saw lots of snakes. My cousin nearly got bitten once. Many people in India get bitten by snakes each year. Snakebites can be deadly.' I said, 'I can put my toy snakes away if you do not like them.' Grandma smiled and hugged me. 'I am sorry I screamed. These are good models, though smaller than in real life. Do you know that you must not get so close to a real snake?' 'Yes,' I said, 'And I know that if I see one I need to stay away and call the snake catchers. Then they will carefully move the snake away to a safe place.' 'There was a good episode of Snake Time about protecting snakes and ourselves,' said Grandma. 'Do you watch that?' I asked. 'It's my favourite programme.' 'I like Kumar Chandan,' said Grandma. 'He knows all about snakes.' 'Now, open your present,' said Grandma. She gave me a parcel. I opened it. 'Yay!' I said, 'My own copy of *The Complete Guide to Snakes!* Thanks!' Grandma told me stories about snakes she'd seen and we read about them in my book. Then I had an idea. 'Grandma, can we record a video about snakes?' I asked. 'Yes!' said Grandma. First I recorded Grandma answering my questions. She talked about the time she saw a cobra. 'I was walking home across the plain. It was about two metres long. It slithered away quickly.' 'It felt the vibrations of your feet,' I said. 'They're scared of us too.' Then I recorded a video of the model cobras, explaining the differences between them. 'The king cobra is longer than the common cobra. This cobra has a bigger hood and some of them can spit venom. The king cobra eats other snakes.' Finally, I explained how to stay safe if you saw a snake in the city. Grandma and I put the videos together. The next day, I showed the video to my class. The next week, when I got home from school, my mum and dad were very excited. Mum said, 'I sent your video to the *Snake Time* show. Watch this!' On her phone was a video from Kumar Chandan! Kumar said, 'Hey Olly! Thank you for your excellent video about snake safety. Your favourite snake is the *King Cobra* – mine too! I am so glad that you are interested in snakes. I find them fascinating. We know how dangerous some snakes are but we must protect them. They're amazing creatures. We're going to show your video on our show. Thanks and keep learning. Bye!' 'Wow, Kumar Chandan sent me a video!' I said, 'I have to tell Grandma!'