David Mashael

Gotta admit the one thing that scares the bejeezus out of me is the thought of snakes in and around the house. Is the brown snake that your wife saw dangerous? Are they commonplace?

Stokkevn

I have no idea if it is dangerous or not, the rule of thumb is that if it is colourful it is dangerous but I don't know how truthful the 'rule of thumb' is. Here the Brown Snake is relatively common, we have had about 1 a year that we have seen in the house/garden so most likely double that for those we have not seen. I normally get them into something so that I can release them from back into the rice fields.

In Saudi we used to carry snake bite kits in our trucks, I got bitten, totally my own fault. So grabbing the snake bite kit instructions ( written by an American who had never seen a snake ) the instructions were "First catch the snake that has just bitten you" Yeh right, like I want to be bitten on the hand as well as the foot. Luckily I knew what had bitten me.

PS - I have just looked up brown snake in the Philippines on the internet, here they seem to be called 'rat snakes' and are not poisonous but are not afraid to bite.

David Mashael

The workers building our house reported seeing a cobra on the site.....!!!!!!!

Gazza-d

Cobras are common, especially in the rice paddies. They live in holes in the banks and if startled will leap out and bite. The locals will usually kill a snake on site and then in the same breath complain about the number of rats around which the snakes would have eaten.

Stokkevn

You are right, the natives here are horrified that I will let a snake go, I now keep them somewhere until after dark and then release them when I take the dogs for their last walk. I did point out to one 'farmer' that it would be wise to not kill the snakes as it would save him about P500 a month on rat poison - he did get the message and no longer kills them, others I have not managed to convert.

A while ago I did have an 8 foot snake on my upstairs veranda, trying to access our neighbours chicks from above. Twice I had to get up and give it a shove with a yard brush as it was up against the bedroom window, the second time quite hard. The next day the missus and I were looking on the internet to see what sort it was, when the picture came up we both said "Thats it". King Cobra! No wonder it did not seem frightened of a fat, old white guy in his undies waving a brush. I am a lot more cautious when ejecting snakes from the house after dark now.

Gazza-d

My sister in law when she was much younger proved that you can run with your underware around your ankles. There was a snake curled around the toilet bowl when she went to relieve herself.

Stokkevn

She obviously failed the tropics toilet check exam then, always check under the toilet seat.

Working in South America we used to have problems with huge jungle frogs weighing in at about a pound each. One day having a beer and a BBQ with a friend, his wife and a few others, his wife popped off to the toilet, a bit later we heard this terrible scream from the cabin that would have turned Frankenstein white. My friend’s wife then flew out of the unit and threw herself at her husband and hung on for dear life and screamed about something attacking her in the toilet. After she had calmed down the full story came out, she had failed in the golden rule of jungle living and sat on the toilet without checking it first for wayward beasts. Moments after she had sat down the frog that was having a relaxing swim in the bowl and obviously frightened of the dark and the now warm shower it was getting, it jumped, rotated 180 degrees, landed squarely on her lady bits and hung on for dear life. It was at that point the screaming started, I never knew women could run that fast with their knickers round their ankles.

Philosophical 11

Since I have been here, I have only seen 4 - 5 snakes. One was actually alive. It was a green tree snake and I was told quite poisonous. I wrestled it to the ground and dispatched it humanely. With a large spade.

But I saw more in W.Africa when I was a boy and we were also advised to try and catch it if we got bitten. It was for identification purposes so that the correct antidote could be administered if it was poisonous. I mean its no good describing it as a pretty looking one, or lovely colours or indeed it had big fangs. Identification was important. Catching them was no big problem. You could leg it to the hospital which was not too far away with it still attached to your leg. Once it shot its poisonous load into you, trying to prise its jaws apart was a waste of effort. Or you could try and catch it with your hand and if it bit again, then a clever twist of the wrist will have it in your grasp.

Then you make your way to the hospital. The snake will try to wrap its body around your arm which is no big deal because its easier to carry and you don't have a squirming snake to bother with.....or scare the locals. If its the constrictor type, then you might feel a slight squeeze on the arm. On arrival at the hospital with the snake still attached to your foot...or whatever or curled up very snugly on your arm, you will find that you will be attended to immediately. I suspect this is because the full waiting room quickly evacuates through doors and windows when they see the snake.

The snake is then identified.....at long range and then if its of the friendly non-poisonous type, it can be safely allowed to go free. If its the poisonous type, then its killed humanely by the two bricks treatment. But whatever option is taken, selfies are a must with the snake so you can get a lot of likes on fb.

Then you get tea and biscuits if you have an antidote injection. Here you can regale the returning patients into the waiting room of how big the snake is etc. You become an instant hero and garner more people who want to be friends on fb.

Not tried any of this yet. I will let you know when I do!

Regards

Stokkevn

And when the next Indiana Jones film is released there will be Pete wrestling a 20 foot Cobra in a rice field and just for identification purposes he will let it bite him a second time.

When I was in W Africa I was more worried about one of the natives biting me than a snake. The pipelines had some pretty unsavory characters working in them

Philosophical 11

Greetings,

Back to the every day story of folk.

Getting fed up with pinay pouts now and I can see this not ending well.

Had a bad one the other day which started innocuously as they normally do but escalated quickly. She was in a bad mood (no idea why) and I suggested we take a walk to the each. She refused so I said I would go alone. She hates me going anywhere alone so it was a red flag to a bull. She then said that if I went, she would not be here when I get back. My red flag to a bull and off I went. And she wasn't. I went out later for a bite to eat by myself....cue another red flag and thought I would have a few ales whilst I am at it (another red flag). As you do when you are let out of a prison. Anyway, she sent her father looking for me on the beach and we had a few more beers. Bonding? Gets back and I could tell she was a tad upset because she was packing her clothes. This was confirmed by her sleeping in the next bedroom. All par for the course to be ignored. Change of profile pic on fb to that of a broken heart which is far better than the usual cut wrist, razor blade and blood. But something extraordinary happened. She was not there in the morning which is normal, but I found out on fb she checked into a private hospital 4 hours away. For a bad headache. She got the 3.00 am bus from here. Long story short now....Doctor found nothing wrong with her after an injection, head scan etc. Prescription was 10 Paracetamols at 130 peso each! Total bill was 3500 peso.

Had one yesterday also. I have a torn hamstring and walking is not pleasant. We have to take the long journey on Friday to renew my visa and do a bit of shopping which I am certainly not looking forward to. However, she wants us to go with friends the next day to visit Dumeguette visiting malls I guess. I said, I could not do that. Cue vigorous ironing which is a sure sign of impending pinay pout. ! hour later, she lay on the bed like a fallen angel saying she is too tired to go for our evening walk to the beach. No problem said I waving the now familiar red flag, I will limp alone. But she wasn't too tired to get on her bike to cycle to her mothers house whilst I was away. But that's the gist of it.

But I don't think this is normal pinay behavior. Maybe I am wrong. But, my patience is now wearing very thin.

All for now

Millhouse

I love it when they go to hospital for no reason.

I knew a girl who was "admitted" (cue drama, or as I would say "went") to hospital... for a broken heart.

Stokkevn

You will have to get used to the pinay pout they are a common occurrence. You seem to be well adjusted to cope with them - quite walk along the beach, nice meal where you can order what you want without comment, a few beers without someone counting how many you have had and saying "That's your 3rd beer you know" ( stock answer to that is "I thought it was my 7th, I had better hurry up then and order another" ) - I would say you are doing pretty well.

Gazza-d

My wife only has one now every few years and I'm not alway the trigger. You have to allow for the fact that the gf is in a very insecure relationship with a married man.

quiltman

yet again you've made me smile! I cannot speak for Pinay Pouts as my wife of 48 years is British - she gets a Brit pout from time to time, but nothing on the scale you describe. I think Gazza-d is correct that she feels her relationship is insecure as regretfully foreigners have a bit of a reputation for changing their women.Yes, they look upon us as a money tree and fear that once the money has gone then they will be dumped. That causes them to lose face according to one of our maids. Hey Ho! what do I know anyway not being married to a Pinay???

Philosophical 11

Thanks for your replies and I agree to a large extent on whats being said. I am becoming more assertive now that crunch time is coming. That being my impending divorce which I am awaiting for through the post. She wants to get married after the divorce but I feel now is the time to assert myself before I propose. I can handle the pouts now although they are not nice but I have all the trump cards. She needs to understand that I am not a pet dog and sometimes I like to do what I want.

She hates me going out alone yet she will go out 2 or 3 times a day to her mothers house or whatever. I have no problem with her going out....it gets boring stuck inside the house. Sometimes when she is out for a while I will go out for a stroll along the beach via her mothers house. Then I get the 20,000 questions of why am I going for a walk alone. Maybe she thinks I am going to get drunk on the beach and go chasing other women! But then I get texts every 5 mins to make sure I am still alive or not chatting up another lady. Or whatever. This scenario led to another pout a couple of nights ago.

Her waddly sister asked her to go with her to watch a basket ball match the other evening. Lovely lady asked me to go also and I politely refused. I would prefer watching paint dry. So she said she would be a couple of hours or so and I said I might nip to the beach for a swift half. As you do. I knew that was like poking a wasps nest with a large stick and I was correct. Cue bulldogs face. Anyway, she told her sister she was not going and we sat in silence all evening and she slept in the other bedroom.

How do these pouts finish I hear you chorus? Simple. Ignore first and then when its time for a walk to the beach I always ask if she wants to come. This is ignored in silence initially, but once I get ready to go by myself, she comes with me. Then at a click of a switch, she is my lovely lady again as if nothing has happened. But she will not talk about it. Which is a shame.

regards