The First Viper: God's Protection

Last night around 9:30, Philip opened the front door and was about to step onto the mat when he noticed that one of the stripes was raised up with an open mouth. He quickly backed inside and firmly shut the door. I was Skyping with a good friend when Philip told me that there was a bright green snake at the front door. I confirmed his thoughts that this meant it was poisonous. Armed with a grasping mop handle, Philip headed out the back door around to the front. The snake was still in position waiting to strike whatever stepped out the front door. Philip meant to catch it with the mop grabber and put it into the trash can. However, he realized that he didn't know what to do with it after that. If he released it anywhere in our neighborhood, it would likely find its way back here. Besides, he did not want to be responsible for someone else getting bitten. The only responsible thing to do was to kill it.

I was still chatting with Heather, but also praying for Philip's safety. If I had known he had initially thought to capture it, I would have been praying harder! Once he decided to kill it, Philip had to decide what to use. He called me to bring him the 10+ foot bamboo pole that was on our large upstairs balcony. I lowered it done to him from the front balcony. This whole time the snake had thankfully stayed on the small front porch, curling up, backing into position, and rearing up to open its mouth. Now Philip took aim with the tip of the pole, prayed, and struck out. He hit the snake's head between the pole and the baseboard of the porch cupboard. The snake squirmed a little bit but was obviously lethally injured. Philip hit him a few more times to make sure he was rendered harmless before taking a closer look.

He called me to see. Seeing the bring green up close made me appreciate the fact that Philip had known from the beginning; this really was a dangerous snake. We examined the markings: bring green back, a slightly lighter yellowish belly, a white stripe in between. A white-lipped pit viper: commonly stirring after dark and traveling on the ground, known for frequent run-ins with humans, quick to strike, venom causes serious pain and necrosis but is not usually lethal. I asked Philip, "What in the world was it doing on our door mat?" He shrugged, and I answered my own question, "Maybe God sent him there so you would find him and take care of him before one of the children found him sleeping in the garden." I don't know if that's true, but I do know that God allowed Philip to see the snake before he stepped on it and gave him time to retreat. He helped him to be able to hit it and injure it on the first blow and protected him from getting bitten. While it's not comfortable to live in a place where my children could wander upon deadly snakes in the garden, it is very comforting to know that God is watching out for all of them. And I am also thankful that anti-venom against all vipers is available in Thailand. Now I've just got to learn how to say, "A snake bit my child/husband!" in Thai.