Gujarat: Under lockdown, Dahod turns into ‘naagin nagari’

VADODARA: When in Dahod, watch your step literally with the town hissing on the streets. Twenty-five snakes were rescued in 24 hours, taking even the town’s wildlife experts by surprise.
According to the rescuers, the snakes, which were rescued between April 8 and April 9, included 16 cobras. Experts do not rule out the possibility that the reptiles may have ventured into the town taking advantage of the lockdown!
“Dahod sees a rise in snake sighting during the hot summers, but this is unprecedented.Such a large number of snakes have never been rescued from the town even during monsoon,” said Pratik Jain, a wildlife enthusiast from Dahod.
Jain said that the snakes are very sensitive to vibrations and smell. “They may have noticed that there was negligible movement around them and came towards the town when they moved out due to the heat,” he said. One of the snakes had even ventured into the general ward of a gynaecology hospital!
The Dahod district administration has given permission to some wildlife enthusiasts to work with the forest department for wildlife rescue and related work.
Jain said that various groups had nominated persons for the task and had been issued passes to attend rescue calls or assist forest officials.