Bangkok Snake Farm, Part 3 - Up Close And Personal

Friends smiling while sharing a reptilian moment at the Snake Farm

As the lecturer neared the end of the "Show and Tell" lecture and demonstration at the Red Cross Snake Farm in Bangkok one of the handlers went off for a moment, returning with a boa constrictor draped over his shoulders.

Based on holding it myself as he is in the photo to the left I estimated the length of it to be a little over nine feet (2.74M), but less than 10.

Having the snake moving while it was draped around me it was difficult to estimate the weight of it, but my uneducated guess is that it was in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 pounds - between 11 and 13Kg.

In what was more than likely another chance to allay people's fears about snakes in general it was announced that any and all attending the show could touch or hold the specimen and take a picture with it, if they wished. Many did, and the handlers patiently waited while people took turns doing just that.

The boys up top sent a nice thank you via email after I'd sent them their picture, as did the woman below. We all agreed that [safely] having a reptile that big around you is an experience we never expected to happen in our lives, but one we definitely got a kick out of.

Naturally, the handlers were careful to keep a watch so foolish people wouldn't wrap the creature around their neck (although one teen-aged kid tried), and despite the probability that they'd done this hundreds of times they seemed genuinely entertained by the laughter and joking around that accompanied almost everyone's contact with the enormous specimen.

The young man in the photo above had some distinctive markings on him, too, it appears

One can only hope that the wife above is preoccupied and assigns her husband the task of selecting an appropriate picture and having their photo Christmas cards prepared for them to send out. Can't you just hear the conversation between the two of them if they get 200 of these back from the shop? "What on earth were you thinking?" "Oh, come on, dear - it's a great picture! Your hair might've been a bit off, but I thought it was lovely!"