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#1
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A Bowl of Milk Out for Snakes
In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? Can all snakes drink milk? |
#2
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Snakes are carnivores that eat by swallowing their prey whole. They are
unable to drink by suction. The milk probably attracts snakes indirectly by attracting their prey. BTW, there are no vegetarian snakes either. "Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message ... In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? Can all snakes drink milk? |
#3
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"Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message ... In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? I don't think the snakes around here are very religious. |
#4
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Vox Humana wrote:
"Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message ... In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? I don't think the snakes around here are very religious. Only Brass snakes are religious. This is what Moses used to cure illness. |
#5
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In article , (Cynthia
Donahey) wrote: In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? Can all snakes drink milk? A North American myth is that the milksnake is so-named because it attaches itself to cows' udders & suckles milk. Dairymen would leave milk out for the milksnakes to keep them from bothering the cattle, & to encourage them to stick around & eat the mice in the barn. In reality of course snakes would become ill if they had no access to water & were forced to resort to drinking bowls of milk. I've never seen a satisfactory explanation for how this more-idiotic-than-average myth got started, but it's a very old belief. It's a remarkable coincidence that this absurd belief exists also in India and Bengal. Because the cobra is sacred to the goddesses Sitala, Mariamme, and Kali, & to the god Vishnu, offerings of milk, bananas, & flowers (including giant Jack-in-the-Pulpits because they look like cobras) are left at shrines or in back yards for cobras. Milk is left out in bowls or poured down holes thought to be inhabited by snakes around temples & in private gardens, hoping snakes will drink it & bring the devottee good luck. On the festival of Nag Panchmai, cobras are captured & deprived of water so that they are forced to drink milk & this is supposed to be to be so pleasing to the snakes that they won't bite people, or if they do the venom won't kill, & the snakes will even intervene with the Goddess to keep anyone form getting diseases or the plague. As with religion in the west, religion is often at least 90% a business scam, & many small-time business crooks provide dehydrated snakes to willing buyers who want to give them milk. The majority of these cobras never recover because so abused before milk is even offered, then they get sick for having nothing to drink but milk. If Vishnu or Sitala happen actually to exist, I'd think they'd smite such worshippers with all manner of plagues for being so gawadamn stupid, since the ill health of these snakes is not difficult to see. But there are a few activists in India trying to stop this widespread practice, because they believe the snakes really are sacred & such well-intended but ultimately murderous treatment of cobras should stop. Superstition, alas, is impervious to education, & so deeply incorporated into the daily life & regional economy that it will never cease. Here's a page about the Nag Panchami festival: http://www.aryabhatt.com/fast_fair_f...20Panchami.htm (Funny that this page about the Cobra Festival gets saddled with badly targetted instant-ads at the bottom of the page, which on my visit just now consisted of two ads for the same phoney snake-repellant, exactly the opposite of what worshippers at the Nag Panchami festival would be seeking. Happily the products are 100% bogus anyway so no snake would ever be discouraged. (Snake-Away's active ingredients are napthalene (same as mothballs, but at delute levels supposedly not so toxic for pets, kids, & other animals) & suphur. The manufacturer makes all sorts of crazy claims for this useless crap including that it is "university tested and proven" with ability to repell 100% of garter snakes, 83% of rattlesnakes, & varying percentages of other snakes -- the percentages come right out of the manufacturer's ass. The apparently imaginary "univerisity" citation is always unspecific so cannot be tracked down & by "university tested" they apparently mean the "inventor" of the useless product proving his own invention worked, though no independent study has been able to come to the same manifestly irreproducible results. The inventor of the completely disproven product is herpetologist Harvey Lillywhite who of course did not publish this so-called study in any peer-reviewed journal nor even in one of the dubious non-peer-reviewed journals which will occasionally accept faux research on a vanity-press basis. (No one at the University of Florida is aware of any this alleged "ten year study" being conducted there, though if the manufacturer is believable at all he may have trumped up a non-scientific report for the EPA of unpublished, un-peer-reviewed, unsubstatiated "findings" later shown in published & authentically independent data to have been false. Yet the manufacturer has managed to get ad-hype published in amateur herpetological bulletins & reprinted by vendor clients all over the web. (The manufacturer very carefully avoids promoting any of the several independent studies of their product because ACTUAL independent research conducted by Marsh, 1993; McCoid et al, 1991 & 1993; & Ferraro 1995 across-the-board concluded "Dr T's Snake-Away was not successful in repelling snakes" & was "totally ineffective in repelling brown tree snakes" It was tested on garter snakes, gopher snakes, & rattlesnakes & had no repellant value, neither did the active ingredients used separately effect snake behavior. (If Lillywhite's unpublished & unavailable article were available we could probably see what was wrong with the protocol that resulted in irreproducible results, or we might even find that the rephrasing manufacturer just lied, but from multiple studies since Lillywhite's alleged findings Snake-a-way has been very definitivelyh proven to be worthless. Yet Dr T representatives frequently show up wherever they are condemned to post all their usual enormous fat lies & misrepresentations & pseudoscientific jabberings about mucking up snakes' sense of smell in the Jacobson organ, all contrary to reality.) -paghat the ratgirl -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com |
#6
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So you like to drink milk from a bowl, is that what you're saying Janet?
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message ... The message from (Cynthia Donahey) contains these words: In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? In Ireland, where there are no snakes, they used to leave a bowl of milk outside for the pixies. The pixies were operating a blackmail racket; no milk meant big trouble. Janet. |
#7
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In article ,
"Cereus-validus..." wrote: Snakes are carnivores that eat by swallowing their prey whole. They are unable to drink by suction. The milk probably attracts snakes indirectly by attracting their prey. Most snakes drink fairly often, and some can drink quickly. Suction appears to be involved in the initial stages of the process. I wouldn't put it past the average dehydrated snake to drink fresh milk if that was all that was available. And I wouldn't be surprised if some acquired a taste for it. BTW, there are no vegetarian snakes either. Yep. Some eat eggs. "Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message ... In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? Can all snakes drink milk? |
#8
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Being a snake lover, I thought this might be of interest to you .
It was a response posted to rec.gardens newsgroup Paul paghat wrote: In article , (Cynthia Donahey) wrote: In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? Can all snakes drink milk? A North American myth is that the milksnake is so-named because it attaches itself to cows' udders & suckles milk. Dairymen would leave milk out for the milksnakes to keep them from bothering the cattle, & to encourage them to stick around & eat the mice in the barn. In reality of course snakes would become ill if they had no access to water & were forced to resort to drinking bowls of milk. I've never seen a satisfactory explanation for how this more-idiotic-than-average myth got started, but it's a very old belief. It's a remarkable coincidence that this absurd belief exists also in India and Bengal. Because the cobra is sacred to the goddesses Sitala, Mariamme, and Kali, & to the god Vishnu, offerings of milk, bananas, & flowers (including giant Jack-in-the-Pulpits because they look like cobras) are left at shrines or in back yards for cobras. Milk is left out in bowls or poured down holes thought to be inhabited by snakes around temples & in private gardens, hoping snakes will drink it & bring the devottee good luck. On the festival of Nag Panchmai, cobras are captured & deprived of water so that they are forced to drink milk & this is supposed to be to be so pleasing to the snakes that they won't bite people, or if they do the venom won't kill, & the snakes will even intervene with the Goddess to keep anyone form getting diseases or the plague. As with religion in the west, religion is often at least 90% a business scam, & many small-time business crooks provide dehydrated snakes to willing buyers who want to give them milk. The majority of these cobras never recover because so abused before milk is even offered, then they get sick for having nothing to drink but milk. If Vishnu or Sitala happen actually to exist, I'd think they'd smite such worshippers with all manner of plagues for being so gawadamn stupid, since the ill health of these snakes is not difficult to see. But there are a few activists in India trying to stop this widespread practice, because they believe the snakes really are sacred & such well-intended but ultimately murderous treatment of cobras should stop. Superstition, alas, is impervious to education, & so deeply incorporated into the daily life & regional economy that it will never cease. Here's a page about the Nag Panchami festival: http://www.aryabhatt.com/fast_fair_f...20Panchami.htm (Funny that this page about the Cobra Festival gets saddled with badly targetted instant-ads at the bottom of the page, which on my visit just now consisted of two ads for the same phoney snake-repellant, exactly the opposite of what worshippers at the Nag Panchami festival would be seeking. Happily the products are 100% bogus anyway so no snake would ever be discouraged. (Snake-Away's active ingredients are napthalene (same as mothballs, but at delute levels supposedly not so toxic for pets, kids, & other animals) & suphur. The manufacturer makes all sorts of crazy claims for this useless crap including that it is "university tested and proven" with ability to repell 100% of garter snakes, 83% of rattlesnakes, & varying percentages of other snakes -- the percentages come right out of the manufacturer's ass. The apparently imaginary "univerisity" citation is always unspecific so cannot be tracked down & by "university tested" they apparently mean the "inventor" of the useless product proving his own invention worked, though no independent study has been able to come to the same manifestly irreproducible results. The inventor of the completely disproven product is herpetologist Harvey Lillywhite who of course did not publish this so-called study in any peer-reviewed journal nor even in one of the dubious non-peer-reviewed journals which will occasionally accept faux research on a vanity-press basis. (No one at the University of Florida is aware of any this alleged "ten year study" being conducted there, though if the manufacturer is believable at all he may have trumped up a non-scientific report for the EPA of unpublished, un-peer-reviewed, unsubstatiated "findings" later shown in published & authentically independent data to have been false. Yet the manufacturer has managed to get ad-hype published in amateur herpetological bulletins & reprinted by vendor clients all over the web. (The manufacturer very carefully avoids promoting any of the several independent studies of their product because ACTUAL independent research conducted by Marsh, 1993; McCoid et al, 1991 & 1993; & Ferraro 1995 across-the-board concluded "Dr T's Snake-Away was not successful in repelling snakes" & was "totally ineffective in repelling brown tree snakes" It was tested on garter snakes, gopher snakes, & rattlesnakes & had no repellant value, neither did the active ingredients used separately effect snake behavior. (If Lillywhite's unpublished & unavailable article were available we could probably see what was wrong with the protocol that resulted in irreproducible results, or we might even find that the rephrasing manufacturer just lied, but from multiple studies since Lillywhite's alleged findings Snake-a-way has been very definitivelyh proven to be worthless. Yet Dr T representatives frequently show up wherever they are condemned to post all their usual enormous fat lies & misrepresentations & pseudoscientific jabberings about mucking up snakes' sense of smell in the Jacobson organ, all contrary to reality.) -paghat the ratgirl |
#9
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Paul E. Lehmann wrote:
Vox Humana wrote: "Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message ... In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to leaving a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious, partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done this or heard anything about this? I don't think the snakes around here are very religious. Only Brass snakes are religious. This is what Moses used to cure illness. Come to think of it further, perhaps this is why Moses led his people to the land of "Milk and Honey". He could encourage all the snakes to come to drink the milk and turn them to brass; tell people to look at the brass snakes and cure their illness(s). As for the Honey - well, they could make mead from this and if looking at the brass snakes did not cure them - they could drink the mead and not care - ha ha ha. |
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#12
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Mark Herbert said:
BTW, there are no vegetarian snakes either. Yep. Some eat eggs. Don't know where you learned about gardening, and I hate to break it too you, but eggs are not vegetables. At least I have never been able to grow them. Dave http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave |
#13
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Jim Elbrecht wrote in
: But it becomes interesting to me because now we have reports from 3 continents that there is a benefit to putting out bowls of milk. What might be the real [or imagined?] reason that some ancients thought would be an easier sell as a way to appease Cobras, Pixies, or Milk-snakes? Is there any truth to this remedy or is it another way to get folks to waste milk? I never had an luck with it myself, but a mid-19th century almanac suggested leaving a bowl of milk with pepper in it on the kitchen counter as a way to kill houseflies. Jim I would guess it stems from some archaic animist belief ... if you take the snake as deity of death, then what better way to neutralize it than to appease it with some token of life? Of course there could also be some practical applications as well. Some site said that the Nag Panchami occurs sometime in August (seems to be a solar calendar although I don't know why they mean by 'bright half of Shravan'), which right would be smack in the middle of the rainy season. I would have thought if you wanted to drug a snake with milk, you'd do it in the dry season when they should be thirsty, but perhaps they are estivating during that time. Also, nobody said what kind of milk ... cow milk, goat milk ... colostrum or what. Such differentiation should have been common knowledge to practitioners, and not so obvious to observers, but it may not make a difference at all, esp. if the effect is merely symbolic. In related news, they are now using grape extracts to keep away birds at some major airports. |
#14
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#15
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Are you saying you've never heard of egg plants? HeHe! ;-)
The question is whether snakes will eat the fruit of the egg plant? "DavesVideo" wrote in message ... Mark Herbert said: BTW, there are no vegetarian snakes either. Yep. Some eat eggs. Don't know where you learned about gardening, and I hate to break it too you, but eggs are not vegetables. At least I have never been able to grow them. Dave http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave |
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