One of my favorite trophy H holiday pastimes is to wander along a beach letting my mind drift off to sea while the sounds of the waves relaxes and soothes my city mind. Boracay is my place for getting away. I was spending a wonderful afternoon strolling along the coast minding my own business when I felt something like a light kiss on my ankle. It turned out to be a slight nudge from a black banded water snake. What this young devil was doing on the beach I didn’t know but I was glad it was too small to get its fangs into me. “Very poisonous,” grinned two sailors who sat watching. Fortunately I did not scream and or faint but just stepped away and admired the serpent in its camouflaged splendor.
The snake was only about a foot in length. It was clearly a baby. Its parents were likely a meter long. This sea krait has a flattened tail like a fin that enables them to swim. They are most comfortable underwater where they can stay submerged for 15 minutes but this hansom specimen was exploring the sandy shore of rocks and sea weed washed ashore on this lonely section of beach on the island of Boracay in the Philippines. I had seen a large cousin of this creature the first and only time I went snorkeling around the island some years ago. I am a fan of snakes but prefer them to be behind glass in a sealed terrarium or made into a nice belt.
I watched this young fellow slither over the volcanic rocks at the water’s edge. I managed to get out my video camera and take a short film to show my snow shoveling friends back in Canada. The two sailors kept up telling snake stories. In the olden days I might have grabbed a long stick and smashed the serpent into paste but I happily let this beauty continue on its slinky way. I did not mention the scene to MrD and MsH, my travel companions who would likely have insisted we leave the island immediately for the city.
When I returned to Manila I showed the video to my staff who oohed and awed at my luck to see the most poisonous snake in the Philippines. They explained it is worse than a cobra bite because there is no anti venom. You have 8 hours to live before the paralysis in the toxic venom stills your heart. Not a fun way for a trophy H to spend a holiday.