Oh no, it's the breeding season....

...for snakes. Our snake in the garden problem became worse today as we spotted two of them, writhing and intertwined in ecstasy. Soon we'll have a real infestation. All we need now is an outbreak of snake flu to compound the problem further.

Concerned by the possibility of the snakes being venomous I had bought a couple of days ago the definitive text on the subject "The Herpetology of Nepal" by Dr T K Shrestha.

It didn't help much as many of the pictures were in black and white and the descriptions included statements like "the females lay eggs" and "the pupils are round". I wasn't going close enough today to find out the shape of the pupils of the snake in question but I imagine that they were fairly dilated. My best guess is that this is a common rat snake which is only aggressive when attacked, so sooner or later my dog Bryher is in for a shock.

Today marked the start of my two year old's sex education - "what is those snakes doing?" she asked. This must be Nepal's variation on the birds and the bees.

Shiva reincarnated

Passing the shop sign in Kathmandu today I was reminded of a story that appeared in The Himalayan Times of last week:











Even more shocking was a report in today's Himalayan Times that states the central zoo is looking to relocate to an area that will allow it room for expansion. The locals out in lovely Godawari are pitching to provide a suitable site, the argument being that Godawari is already home to such a fabulous range of flora and fauna (which it is). So what better case can there be to concrete over a lot of it and turn it into a haven for moronic day trippers to come and tease - or as I have personally witnessed in the past throw stones at - caged animals? So often I have heard dewy-eyed Nepalis wax lyrical about the beauties of their nation. But I think in many ways it takes an outsider who has seen around a bit to appreciate just what a special place this is with its rich ecology. And maybe it needs an outsider to help educate the locals who see it as their birthright to do what they will in the midst of Nepal's beautiful fragility.

Snakes alive!

Back in Kathmandu the petrol queues are no shorter than they were when I left for UK ten days ago. But then again it's been like this for months. A driver will queue for four or five hours for ten litres of petrol and then rejoin the queue for a second allocation. The problem has arised because the Nepal Oil Corporation which imports fuel from the India Oil Corporation hasn't been paying its way. The saga began a couple of years ago when the Nepalese Government tried to introduce a petrol price hike (that would reflect the true import costs) that led to riots in the streets and the Government having to back down. The trouble is that no Government subsidy has been paid to the Nepal Oil Corporation to compensate in the shortfall in the price at the pumps, meaning that a substantial debt has accrued. Now the India Oil Corporation has had enough and reduced the flow of petrol across the border.

This morning we moved a box of toys from our upstairs store room in advance of transferring it to the children's home. Fourteen month old Alisha was fascinated with the partially opened box. Bev noticed her fiddling with the masking tape that had secured it and then with a large rubber band that was attached to the tape. Alisha was stretching it as if it were a bungee. On closer examination Bev realised that it was a little toy snake that she remembered having purchased some time ago. But then the "toy" snake moved...oh yes, it was alive. Heaven alone knows how the creature got into the house but it has been released now and Alisha has survived to tell the tale - one day!