Herbs and Snakes

                                                 

Herbs and Snakes

Punarnava, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Shatavari, Hedge Bamboo, Ruta, Paan:

My backyard was a regular cavorting ground for all kind of snakes. The mongoose and monitor lizards would regularly come and huge fights would ensue. Often the snake was defeated, but we were amazed to see often the same snake coming back to fight the next day. I remembered the story told by our farmers about the herb Punarnava, which was then plentifully growing wild around our plants. They have seen the mongoose actually applying the Punarnava leaves to its own wounds, reviving and then carrying the leaves to apply on the snake, after which it too miraculously revives. Rather difficult to believe, but what is more credible is probably the snake rubs itself on this plant and may be also, swallows some leaves. Punarnava is known to be an antidote to bites besides being a powerful healer.

One day our cat was eating the lemongrass and peppermint at the base which she usually does ,but that day the snake was coiled on the ground next to the lemongrass which she considers her personal property. The curious cat tried paying with the snake by extending her paw. The remarkable sight we saw was, the snake wasn’t angry. It wasn’t hissing or extending the venomous tongue, but was playing with the cat by swinging to and fro to avoid its paw. The hood was fully opened and we could see a startlingly red spectacle design on it.

 In the thicket of the Shatavari creeper, the bulbul would always nest. In spring, the beautiful white flowers would turn into sweet, ripe, red berries, which the birds nibbled. In the nesting season, a regular stream of fledglings would emerge. From early morning, the parent birds kicked up a great ruckus teaching their young ones how to fly. In the beginning, they would fall around and that was the time when a huge black snake would lie and wait to gobble them up. After one accident, our Nepali cook stood for an hour with a huge stick to keep the snake at bay. In the meanwhile, the fledglings learned to fly and flew away.

In the front garden, a Hedge Bamboo would yield delicious bamboo shoots which I would chop and directly shallow cook with a little oil on my Iron tava. There was also a reddish- brown Snake(probably a Bomboo Rat Snake) always coiled around the branches, I have never figured out why. It was a friendly snake. Most of the time when I harvested the shoots it would be quietly and harmlessly hiding in there somewhere. When my children were playing nearby, it would make itself visible and watch them with beady eyes. They too would fearlessly watch and talk to it. The point is, probably snakes are blind so all this is quite unexplainable. However, this just shows that even snakes respond to friendliness.

To find a harmless solution, I planted a lot of Ruta/Shatap plants in the backyard. They smell terrible but the yellow flowers and silver leaves look attractive. We hear the snakes hate them and don’t come near. I think there was a diminishing of their visits around that area. Also found them very useful medicinally. Could soak some leaves and a flower in a glass of water, strain and drink by the tablespoon for body aches, and have a bath by soaking some sprigs in a bucket of hot water.

However, the snakes merely changed their homes to the opposite wall covered with Paan/Betel Leaves. The Specs Cobra would generally coil around the Paan creeper. There are legends around why snakes like being around Betel leaves. The Mahabharata also has a chronicle about how Arjuna went to the Naaglok to acquire the Paan plant and leaves, not being able to find it anywhere. As it was one of the plants churned out of the Amrit Manthan, it was believed to remove evil powers, thus the name Nagbel. Scientifically and in Ayurveda, the pan leaves purify the air and have many healing properties. Probably the snakes get a feeling of well being when around them. Obviously snakes and herbs are all part of a healthy eco system.