i live in muzha too, til sunday. last year the building people told everyone to keep kids from playing in the garden/common areas because there were two snakes about that no one had been able to catch. Everytime they were sighted, the person would rush off to call someone, only to return and find the snake gone. One day a tenant saw the larger snake at the front door of the building!! They found one snake’s hiding place in a hole in the gutter, just inches from where my toddlers and I (or my helper) would sit and play. 
My boyfriend and I went up to Neiwan last weekend and took a swim in the river. Just seconds after getting out of the water, my bf saw a snake swimming by. He claimed it was a cobra and I told him that there couldn’t possibly be cobras in Taiwan. However, after a search on the internet, I learned that cobras are one of the 13 varieties of venemous snakes on this lovely island.
Back home I only had to deal with rattlesnakes, who at least give you a warning before the attack.
There are indeed cobras here.
Once my mum and I were walking through that park in Kenting with the big rock that looks like a frog. We were gossiping and thus not paying much attention to anything in particular. There was this loud hissing noise nearby, which didn’t bother me to start with because I’m a diver and it sounded a bit like the valve on a tank being opened and I was kind of preoccupied anyway. When it occured to me that this noise was a little out of place, I looked down and noticed a cobra 40cm from my bare shin, upright and hissing.
Ignoring all snake advice given to me as a child, I leapt straight up in the air, screaming at the top of my lungs and landed on top of my mother. Luckily, this scared the crap out of the cobra, which slithered away. My mum then hit me for following it to see if it really was a cobra. 
Headed for the nearest bar and drank myself silly.
Cobras are common around that elevation in northern Taiwan.
Leave them alone and you will be fine. Taiwan wouldn’t be the same without it’s venomous friends. But keep in mind that there are several non-poisonous species that closely resemble the cobra in coloring and body shape.
It’s the idiots like me who enjoy catching them that get into trouble. :homer:
I was at the waterfall…the one you can dive from…off of the number 7 about 25 min from Da-Xi. Anyway my buddy was climbing the waterfall and a snake shot out and bit his hand. He screamed and dropped into the water. We got on our bikes and started heading back but within minutes his hand was too swollen to use the accelerator on the bike. At the hospital there were considering making cuts along all his fingers and on the back of his hand to release some of the pressure…by this time his hand was roughly the size of a baseball…looked like a 300 pound man’s hand on a 170 pound guy…He spent a week in the hospital on anti-venom and the swelling almost made it to his shoulder.
A week after he got out of the hospital we went back to the waterfall…I wasn’t sure if I would climb…but my buddy beat me to and shot right back up again…brave guy. Speaking of which weather is almost good enough…anyone else for diving off of waterfalls?
Ha ha! I bet he was a lot more careful about where he was putting his hands the second time, though.
Scary stuff. I had almost exactly the same experience last year, except the snake missed me.
I did NOT attempt that climb again!
[quote=“Mordeth”]I was at the waterfall…the one you can dive from…off of the number 7 about 25 min from Da-Xi. Anyway my buddy was climbing the waterfall and a snake shot out and bit his hand. He screamed and dropped into the water. We got on our bikes and started heading back but within minutes his hand was too swollen to use the accelerator on the bike. At the hospital there were considering making cuts along all his fingers and on the back of his hand to release some of the pressure…by this time his hand was roughly the size of a baseball…looked like a 300 pound man’s hand on a 170 pound guy…He spent a week in the hospital on anti-venom and the swelling almost made it to his shoulder.
A week after he got out of the hospital we went back to the waterfall…I wasn’t sure if I would climb…but my buddy beat me to and shot right back up again…brave guy. Speaking of which weather is almost good enough…anyone else for diving off of waterfalls?[/quote]
That place is a snake magnet…In fact, it’s one of the only places I’ve ever been to in my life where there has been at least one snake on every visit. This goes back some 15 years…
Which waterfall is that? Don’t want to go there alone by accident.
I think that the above could be miscontrued by some and to avoid any misunderstandings about snake behavior I would like to offer the following.
I assume that the snake was inside a crevice or small rock cave of some type. The guy unknowingly passed by the snake unseen. The snake felt threatened of course and struck in self defence. Unluckily the guy was within striking distance (about 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the snake for most species) and got bit.
The phrase ‘shot out’ could be misconstrued as meaning that the snake intentionally came out of the crevice, bit the guy, and went back in again.
It is impossible to get bitten by a snake unless you are within striking distance. The above is a pretty extreme case, but a good example of an accidental bite. As MJB says, the people at the greatest risk of snake bite are the idiots who try to catch or kill them. Be wary of course and use common sense, but don’t be too paranoid.
Well said Brian.
Mordeth, do you or your friend have any photos of his swollen hand?
I’ve been here for four years and never seen a single snake, although I’ve only been hiking a couple times. But after reading this thread, I’m kinda freaked out … fortunately, there’s not much “nature” in Banqiao. 
[quote=“Mordeth”]I was at the waterfall…the one you can dive from…off of the number 7 about 25 min from Da-Xi. Anyway my buddy was climbing the waterfall and a snake shot out and bit his hand. He screamed and dropped into the water. We got on our bikes and started heading back but within minutes his hand was too swollen to use the accelerator on the bike. At the hospital there were considering making cuts along all his fingers and on the back of his hand to release some of the pressure…by this time his hand was roughly the size of a baseball…looked like a 300 pound man’s hand on a 170 pound guy…He spent a week in the hospital on anti-venom and the swelling almost made it to his shoulder.
A week after he got out of the hospital we went back to the waterfall…I wasn’t sure if I would climb…but my buddy beat me to and shot right back up again…brave guy. Speaking of which weather is almost good enough…anyone else for diving off of waterfalls?[/quote]
This is a problem when you cannot identify the snake that bit you…You are forced to use a generic antivenom which is not nearly as effective as a species specific one…Had you been able to tell what type of snake bit your friend, the side effects would have been far less extreme. I’ve seen cases in the states where the doctors have been forced to cut the affected appendage open to relieve the swelling. It’s imperative to identify the snake, as it could make the difference between recovery and something much worse.
Your friend was lucky…
Does anyone know what this is?
Larger version here.
I saw it today on a small road off #120, leading to a place called Ro… something (Rowan?)
It didn’t seem to be in such a great shape, actually it was pretty dead 
, but it scared the shit out of me. It was about 1.2m in length.
I don’t know anything about snakes, and this was the first one I saw in the wild… fortunately, somebody had taken care of it.
I believe it’s a rat snake. Same kind as I asked MJB about. The one I saw was longer and much thicker. Harmless to humans AFAIK but they do give you a jolt when you see them. Like Carrie said in Sex and the City (though in a different context), “Yeah, it’s scary when a really big one is coming straight at you.”
I found a snake last month, at my house in Yang Ming Shan under the couch on the ground floor. No joke. I had to call the firemen to come get it out of the house. 2 weeks later, I find another snake. This one was a baby one. I think there is a nest in my house or very close by. We had 2 other snake sightings by my place this summer. Too many snakes around here but I can
Thi is what I’ve seen about week ago near BiHu park (in Neihu) :
My wife was scared to death!
As you can see it was in the evening (arround 9 PM), I almost stepped on it.
neighbours said there was a cobra round here (muzha) the other day… glad i was out.
Damn I would love to see a cobra. Some members of the hiking club spotted one when we were hiking in Maokong but I missed it.
my wifes old man had a nest of them and a nest uf the umbrella snakes on their farm…
have only seen one cobra here - at wuzhrshan
Chris and I saw this snake attacking the worm on the right. It was a true Animal Planet moment. At firts I thought the snake was dead and its guts were hanging out its mouth, but then quickly realized it had caught a worm and had it sideways across its maw. Unfortunately he let go before I could get out the camera.
Chinese guys nearby said it was a cobra but I’m sure it was a gui ke hua as it has that species’ distinctive colorful markings down its sides.
