KHON KAEN: With too many snakes to catch, a tambon municipality in this northeastern province has to call a training to ease its workload.
A snake-catching training programme was conducted in tambon Tha Phra in Muang district on Monday for about 100 rescue workers, police, defence volunteers and community leaders.
The training brought in experienced rescuers and officials of Khon Kaen Zoo to offer instructions and a demonstration to the attendees.
A tip from zoo director Thanachon Kaensing was that anybody bumping into a snake should stay calm and use a thumbstick to catch the reptile. Catching a snake needs at least two persons, he said, adding that they should not hit the snake as it might get hurt and could not be released to nature.
The training was held as the Tha Phra municipality is located on a low-lying terrain absorbing water from the Khon Kaen municipality and the Chee River.
Tha Phra mayor Pisut Anutargoon said coming with the water were snakes. "We have received at least two calls a day from residents to come to catch snakes and other reptiles," he said.
The zoo director said pythons, cobras, king cobras, green pit vipers have been found in the province.