Philip slowly arose and crept toward the kitchen. The snake was now behind the counter looking for a way of escape. From his position, Philip noted a light colored belly, "I think it's a viper. It's behind the honey bottles, so you can safely go to the other room." I directed the kids to slowly and smoothly stand up and walk to the playroom. Once there, we shut the door, stuffed a blanket in the crack underneath, and prayed for Philip's safety.
This is the second snake we have seen in the fifteen months we have lived here. The last time was a few months ago. I had been missing green: green plants, green trees, green grass. I had been praying for the time when we would be able to move out of an urban environment and into a more rural area. I had been praying for "green." I had scheduled to Skype with my parents in less than ten minutes, and I wanted to get the laundry hung up to start drying first. I dashed up the stairs, unlatched the balcony door, hurriedly shoved it open, and screamed at the top of my lungs! A long bright green snake unwound from the ledge above me and nearly missed dropping on my head.
It was not interested in me and swiftly slithered across the balcony and through the drain hole onto the roof below. I noted a dry brown tail on an otherwise unpatterned body, nearly five feet in length. He was long gone by the time Philip arrived to see me still inside and shaking. I gasped, "A snake; a bright green snake." I hunted around the drain, peered out onto the roof, and checked the rooms with windows in the direction the snake had fled. When I was convinced he was not near, I hung up my laundry and belatedly Skyped my parents. We joked that I needed to be more specific when I asked God to provide me some "green."
Green is the color some of the vipers common in Thailand, and our first snake experience was with a viper (see The First Viper). Alarm bells go off in our minds when we seen a green snake, but not every green snake is a viper. After Philip watched his snake squirm out a crack between the screen and window sill, he felt it was safe to get a closer look. The body boasted horizontal stripes was long and thin. This, coupled with the fact it was roaming in the middle of the day, led us to identify tree snake. I had come to the same conclusion about mine. These snakes can bite but their venom is not dangerous for humans, just the geckos, lizards, and rats they are after. Even so, for several days after the balcony snake incident, the neighbors probably wondered what the crazy white lady was doing flicking her mop at the ledge above the doorway before walking out onto the balcony!
