Snake Shyam

M. S. Balasubramania
Snake Shyam
Born 1967 (age 50–51)
Cheluvaamba Hospital, Krishnarajanagara, Mysore State, India
Nationality Indian
Other names Snake Bite
Occupation Snake enthusiast, Auto rickshaw Driver, Councillor - Mysore City Corporation (MCC)
Known for Snake enthusiasm
Website snakeshyammysore.com

M. S. Balasubramania (born 1967),[1] popularly known as Snake Shyam, is a snake enthusiast, wildlife conservationist and lecturer in Mysore, India.[2] Though not a trained herpetologist,[3] he is known throughout the Mysore region as a "naturalist on wheels".[4] Shyam rescues and rehabilitates snakes and educates the public about them.[5] He is also sometimes consulted by local hospitals to identify a species of snake prior to treating a snakebite victim.[6]

Shyam has been widely recognized for his work. National Geographic featured him in its Croc Chronicles: Snakes, Karma, Action special.[6] Mysore city has named a street for him and has dedicated its first "urban forest" to him and fellow environmentalist Hyder Ali Khan.[3][7]

Shyam is also known for his personal flamboyance and has been described by The Hindu as "easily the most recognisable characters [sic] of Mysore, complete with his sun hat, overflowing beads and multiple rings that adorn his fingers".[2]

Background

The road named after Snake Shyam by the Mysore City Corporation

Shyam was born to M.R.Subbarao and A.Nagalakshmi Mirle in Cheluvaamba Hospital, Krishnarajanagara, Mysore State, now in Karnataka, India.[8] He demonstrated his interest in snakes at an early age, when a snake invaded a neighbor's home. After convincing those around not to kill the snake, he caught it and released it into the garden. From this incident, he earned his nickname.

Avocation

By profession, Shyam was a driver, transporting children to school, but beginning in 1982 he began to be frequently called upon to retrieve snakes that had encroached on people's properties, a job for which he receives no pay.[3][8] Called multiple times each day, Shyam uses a pillowcase and a badminton racquet without strings to net the snakes, which he then releases into the forest.[3] Though his avocation to safely remove these snakes has cost him considerable expense, Shyam continues from the desire to see these snakes released rather than killed.[6] Recently, authorities in Mysore have offered to defray some of Shyam's expenses by paying his telephone bills.[2]

In 2004, he estimated that he may have caught and released over 40,000 snakes since he began in 1980;[3] as of February 2008, the official record, which he began in 1980(Unofficially he has caught nearly 40,000 Snakes between 1980-1997), was 11,755.[2] Though Shyam has only been bitten four times in his rescue work,[2] he has developed an allergy to antivenin, which requires that he exercise great care in handling snakes.[6]

His knowledge of snakes—he can identify 28-30 local species of snakes—is founded on personal experience, but supplemented by reading the works of or speaking to professionals such as Romulus Whitaker, J.C. Daniel and faculty at Mysore University.[3] Shyam's van features paintings depicting snakes and also displays his slogans: "Snakes are not as poisonous as human beings" and "Care for the rare".[6]

Snake Shyam was elected to Mysore City Corporation from ward number 17 in the elections held in March 2013.

On 9 March 2017 he completed another record by catching 32,000 Snakes.

Snake Shyam (in red shirt) with the local people after a 'snake encounter'

References

  1. ↑ "Snake man". Frontline. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Special correspondent. (14 February 2008) A prize catch for the ‘naturalist on wheels’ The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Srinivasaraju, Sugata. (29 November 2004) The charm of a gutless racquet Archived 22 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Outlook Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  4. ↑ Special correspondent. (4 July 2005) Snake falls victim to superstitious belief The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  5. ↑ Staff correspondent. (26 June 2007) 60 teenagers chosen for a course on wildlife The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Staff. (22 September 2005) A hiss and tell story. The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  7. ↑ Staff correspondent. (6 April 2008) Sapgreen activities begin tomorrow. The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  8. 1 2 The unknown animal lover Snake Shyam ourkarnataka.com. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
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