A Day In The Life Of A Snake Rescuer

Brut India

While people his age scrolled through their phones, this young man was solving human-snake conflicts all across Mumbai .

Transcript

00:00In some areas, people had written my number and behind my number, they had written,

00:08Wo sapwala ladka.

00:14Kyauda aggressive hai, kyauda aggressive hai?

00:15Addiction hai.

00:16Like, I feel satisfied holding a snake.

00:19Yeah, so he had a small abscess here also.

00:22That's probably a...

00:23Whoa!

00:25People think that snake rescue is cool and fun,

00:27but they don't understand that it's a life-threatening task.

00:57Let's go.

01:01Saap dikh raha hai unko.

01:03So, let's go and check which snake it is.

01:13A rapidly expanding human population has led to a rise in human-snake conflicts.

01:19In Mumbai alone, hundreds of snake rescue calls pour in every month.

01:24Raj Zadav is a young wildlife rescuer who has dedicated himself to this risky work.

01:30I spent two days in Are Colony with Zadav to see what exactly it takes

01:34to protect this potentially dangerous species.

01:54Do you want me to move it?

01:55No, no.

01:56Yes, do it now.

01:58Do it now.

02:00Oh, f**k!

02:02Leave it, leave it, leave it.

02:03Leave it, leave it, leave it.

02:04It's stuck.

02:05Wait, wait, wait.

02:06It's coming from the gutter.

02:07Wait.

02:08Wait for two minutes.

02:09Don't pull it, don't pull it.

02:10It's here, Raj.

02:11It's here.

02:12It's on this side, Raj.

02:13Yes, yes.

02:14Wait for two minutes.

02:15It's stuck.

02:20It's very aggressive.

02:21It's very aggressive.

02:22It's very aggressive.

02:24It's very aggressive.

02:37Just move this side.

02:38Just move this side.

02:40It's so aggressive.

02:41It's so aggressive.

02:44It's very aggressive.

02:53My first rescue was a rat snake.

02:59The rat snake was in my hand

03:01and my hand was shaking and shivering.

03:04And I was holding it by the bag.

03:07That moment was very...

03:09And now, it's not like that.

03:11Now, I'm very stable.

03:14I'm very calm when rescuing people.

03:16Sometimes, what happens is

03:18I see so many parts of a snake's body

03:22and I have to identify which snake it is.

03:26Is it venomous or is it non-venomous?

03:28I have to identify its scales.

03:30I have to identify its body size.

03:32I have to identify its color.

03:34There are patterns of snakes.

03:38I'll give you some information about snakes.

03:40This snake is called the Indian rat snake.

03:42I'll give you some information about snakes.

03:44This snake is called the Indian rat snake.

03:46In Marathi, it's called dhaman.

03:48This snake can grow up to 12 feet.

03:50Pandra actually

03:52poops on me for any defense.

03:57He pooped on my body.

04:00Rescue is simple.

04:02But it's very difficult to take care of the people

04:05who are on the location.

04:08Because people come forward with their phones

04:11and take photos of us.

04:13If we're afraid of a venomous species,

04:15we can bite people.

04:17Instead of rescuing a snake,

04:19we have to control people.

04:21That's a little challenging.

04:23Zadav used to rescue snakes unofficially.

04:25But now he's linked up with a wildlife rescue NGO.

04:29And since then, he's been getting calls

04:31from all across Mumbai.

04:35This is our bike, which our NGO has given us

04:38for attending the rescue calls.

04:52Because snakes are territorial,

04:54it's important to release them

04:56close to the place where they were rescued from.

04:58It's an addiction.

05:00I feel satisfied holding a snake.

05:02When I hold a snake in my hands,

05:04I feel very satisfied.

05:07I don't think so it is a negative addiction.

05:10Because it is helping our environment.

05:14So how can it be a negative addiction?

05:16It's positive, right?

05:23Zadav is studying botany and zoology,

05:26and he's keen to make this his career.

05:28But the 24-hour nature of the job

05:30has already started to take its toll.

05:32The teenage years have taught him

05:35The teenager hardly has time for friends

05:37or even studies.

06:05I feel happy that I'm doing something

06:07that no one else is doing.

06:35If I'm late, anything can happen.

06:43We told him in the beginning

06:45that our situation is such

06:47that we need a source of income.

06:49But later he understood

06:51that it's not a good idea

06:53because he's been interested in this

06:55since he was a child.

06:58In August 2021,

07:00Zadav responded to a distress call

07:02for an injured Indian rock python.

07:05The rock python is one of India's

07:07largest non-venomous snakes.

07:27It fell while climbing.

07:29It's set in a film city.

07:31Monkeys attacked it.

07:33It had a tick infection.

07:35It had a lot of ticks on its body.

07:43Zadav did more than just rescue the snake.

07:45When he saw its condition,

07:47he took the python to a wildlife doctor

07:49in the city to nurse it back to health.

07:57There's one more layer left.

08:28Basically electrolytes

08:30because he hasn't eaten in a while.

08:32And when he came to us,

08:34he was extremely dehydrated.

08:36It goes under the skin

08:38and then it gets absorbed in the blood.

08:44He had a small abscess here also.

08:46That's probably a...

08:48They don't like the colour.

09:18But we also save a life.

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