Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada): Sharanya Bhat, a final year BSc student of St. Aloysius College in Mangaluru has caught and rescued more than 100 poisonous snakes over the last two years. Her snake catching tricks are talk of the town now.
A resident of Ashoka Nagara in Mangaluru, she catches snakes found only inside the houses and if they are in a dangerous situation. After catching them, she leaves them into the forest safely. She has been doing this for the past two years. She has caught and rescued poisonous snakes, including Rattlesnake, Cobra, Python, Water snake, etc.
Speaking to Etv Bharat Sharanya Bhat said, "There will be chances of snakes attacking us while we catch them. It depends on the situation. So hook handle method is a better way to safely catch the snake."
"Conservation of snakes is also a very important thing. People run the vehicles over even the 8 feet, 9 feet Pythons. Many people respect the Cobra and they have a bad opinion over other snakes. How can be these snakes are bad? Every snake is important in conservation purpose", she said further
" Though I like and have an interest on snakes, I am afraid of some poisonous snakes. I know they bite, so I don't catch them with bare hands. I got support from my grandfather. My mother has a fear of snakes but she supports me. She does not touch the snakes, that is her phobia. At the same time, she does not kill snakes and does not encourage to kill the snakes" she said.
Inspired by grandfather
She was inspired by her grandfather Prakash Baltilaire about snakes and other creatures. Whenever she goes to her grandfather's home in Kokkada village of Mangaluru, her grandfather takes her to hills, forests, grasslands and gives information about the creatures.
She was trained by Snake Joy, a known snake catcher, to catch a venomous snake. Atul Pai, a reptile specialist in Ashok Nagar gave support to her interest. Dr. Varadagiri guided her. She is collecting information about varieties of frogs from Dr. Vineet Kumar.
Sharanya is also studying over frogs. She wants to pursue her MSc in Wildlife and Conservation and aims to join Forest Dept.
Besides her love for reptiles, Sharanya is also interested in music and dance. She is practising Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam.
