Since literally day dot, snakes have engendered feelings of revulsion, fascination and been connected to medicine and healing magic. We have LOTS of them here in Thailand, and the shift from hot-dry to hot-wet always brings them out. Maybe out a little too much. Having seen snakes in the garden daily for several weeks (at least one sighting was clearly a venomous black-yellow banded krait) and determined where at least one nest was (within a meter of the washing machine), I was contemplating some machete action. Until this little guy arrived in the house a few days ago. 
Normally I usher them out with a broom or pick them up if they are obviously harmless little green tree snakes. But this one? He reared up at me and flared out aggressively under his head (a la cobra style) and so I called the landlady, who asked for a photo (hence the poor image quality after his little hissy fit) and within 5 mins the two village snake men were here. Yes, angels sometimes appear reeking of the local rice spirit and wielding long bamboo poles and large machetes. Yes, they caught him and actually released him to the jungle down the end of our laneway. The verdict? Dangerous. Very. (although not exactly determined by me due to northern dialect issues exactly what kind of snake and he was not exactly sitting still for more photo ops). Apparently, at about 1 meter long, only a baby. Which raised the nest issue again. And the mama and the siblings.
Dangerous by the snake guy's opinion meant a revision of my machete in flip flops garden plan. I did my best blonde-woman "thing" and enticed my Thai-uncle-neighbour (he of he ka-noon fame) to deal with the snake nest problem, for a very fair price.
And so my back door "snake zone" went from this:
to this:
It's ugly all slashed to ground zero, and so I am planning some passionfruits creeping over the fence and a clump of helaconias, cos I LOVE them. And kitchen herbs interspersed with snake and spider repelling plants. Yes, another post about that as I implement it. But this morning I decided to investigate just what was left standing, so to speak, before I start planting. And I got such a lovely surprise!! Cos I found THIS:
Bai cha-phlu!! Piper sarmentosum. The wild Asian pepper plant. An amazing culinary "yummy" to have on hand - just soooooo many dishes use this, from our fav Vietnamese little spicy pork rolls (these leaves are the wrap) to Miang Kham. Oh. Sweet. Goddess. Miang Kham and cold beer after a looooong hot day is sheer magic. What is Miang Kham?
Think the PERFECT Thai snack. Bai ChaPhlu - take one leaf in your hand and add one little dried shrimp, a pinch of chili, toasted peanut, toasted coconut, toasted galangal, a teeny weeny sliver of lime and a little spicy red onion. Wrap it in the leaf, pop in the mouth and enjoy the superb mingling of flavours, and follow with a cold Leo beer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miang_kham
The best part is that Bai Cha Phlu is a medicine all unto itself, used to treat everything from tuberculosis to SNAKE BITE. Haha... did you read that right? Yep. :) The irritant-problem-crisis revealed it's own natural antidote. In that perfect way that Mother Nature always does.
I can't help but share what else the Thai uncle revealed after his 3 day machete extravaganza: a NONI plant, just beginning to fruit!! :)
And the noni is peeking out from under a straggly pomegranate bush.
Sooo much abundance! BlissednBlessed. Lots of gardening, healing herb and Thai food-recipe posts in my steemit future! Follow me @artemislives to learn and share the journey.
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A very exciting and all-around tale: I love the slice of life that emerges from your story, @artemislives!
I'm happy that the snake came out alive but I'm curious to know: did you scream very loud?
Do you know that the snakes are deaf but they feel very well the vibrations... even of your strong scream? ;)
A big hug from @amico! :*
haha... silent internal scream only when it reared up at me... I was raised in Australia and know better than to startle an already defensive snake. :)
Oh well, your Aussie side has been really useful to your survival, isn't it? ;)
Great write up buddy and the crait from the house is really dangerous.
The kraits? Eeew - even the most dedicated natural goddess takes a large step back!! The old Thai uncle removed 3 yesterday. I am researching snake-repelling herbs!! :) Following you from North Thailand!! thanks for the support. :)
Gonna visit Thailand in this december. Following all the way from Paris right now but basically from India.
Oh very cool. Put Chiang Mai on your list and we'll have a steem-family lunch - there are quite a few of us here in the @smg
Yes of course special attraction is Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is on my list already. Thanks for the invite will connect you when about to leave for Thailand for sure buddy.
Bai ChaPhlu sounds totally delish. A mix of sweet sour fresh and spicey in the way Thai food is good at. You are sooo making me that when I come to Chiang Mai. Sounds crazy busy in your garden. Id be interested in seeing what snake repellent you come up with and if they work. Nothing like a good tidy up and start again!! We are doing similiar round here. Begone, redbacks and mice! No yum thai snacks though.. just homebrew and cake.
How about you bring a homebrew sample and I make the Miang Kham?? Or you could try my homebrew.... if there are enough acerola cherries left on the tree, I plan to blend some up with the local rice spirit and leave it for a month or two to see what happens. :)
Sounds like a deal. ❤
Holy beegeezes! I a man so glad the community all comes together to help one another the way they do! And I think your idea of a little garden sounds lovely! I'm sure you will make that space not only beautiful but incredibly useful! Lots of love! Stay safe!
Hoping to make smoothie-food time later this coming week. Been a monstrous-enormous-big-challenging week! But calming and settling. Would love to have a catch up. :)
It's also been a super challenging week for me. Hope you are well! Yes let's get together soon! Will message you!
One Krait entered my house too last monsoon and packed up it in a box and rescued out of the city.
Yikes!! Nothing quite like a jack-in-the-box grumpy krait. Not quite the hitch-hiker you want! :) Following you - thanks for the upvote and support. :)
You are welcome dear @artemislives also following you. Keep it up.
Snakes ... nest ... You live dangerously ...
Haha... the ONLY way, Ilias - live on the edge and you find the gold most people are too scared to reach for. :)
You can have all the gold that you want. I am safe in my snakeless fourth floor appartment in the city ... :)
Lovely and entertaining post! Thank you goodness you have a landlady who is ready to help out so quickly. I would have freaked! I have a love and appreciation for snakes though, stemming from my work with Kundalini and the symbolism that snakes help us transform and rise up to connect with spirit... But I've never been this close to a fierce cobra-like guy like that one!
But it's nice to see you now have a SAFE backyard! And a blank canvas to create garden magic. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, I am growing in appreciation for the old village uncles every day. :)
My favorite sentence has to be "Yes, angels sometimes appear reeking of the local rice spirit and wielding long bamboo poles and large machetes". I can see it now! What an adventure you had with the snakes. I'm glad your landlady was able to help you out so swiftly and thank goodness no one was bitten . I really enjoyed this thank you. 💖
I love the image of the rescue team. I have to say youre braver than me. Snakes are cool as long as theyre outside. They come inside, and i have to leave. We had two mating in our house last year, and i just had to go out on the dock for a few hours.
OH DAMN! You are a brave woman @artemislives. I would have tripped several times and cried like a baby if had to witness that snake in my washroom. :(
But I guess those are some of the adventures you get to enjoy when you live in such lush-green surroundings. And considering the amount of snakes you have there, no wonder you found an anti-dote right in the middle of your back door garden. Great blog and totally <3 those pictures. :)
An awkward moment to bring you a great opportunity to develop a paradise in your garden. More work? yes, but then you will enjoy it every day. You'll see.
I'm happy for you it is all sorted AND you got nice plant gifts from Mother nature on top!