Kat Yes! Well, I guess once they’re out of the water they are climbing or crawling but, yes, they can get upstairs.
I hadn’t really expected to see any snakes in New Caledonia.
But then one was in the water about 30cm away from me. I was on the lower steps leading down from our bungalow, about to go for a swim, when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. A yellow and black striped snake swam right past my arm. I called out “what the hell is that?!” while waiting for my brain to catch up and realise it was a snake. A couple of seconds later, we heard a scream from the lady staying in the bungalow next to ours. She had walked down a few steps towards the water but then ran back up and started to raise the stairs up. But it was too late. We saw her partner standing at the top of the stairs, holding a shoe, ready to strike the uninvited guest. There were a few vigorous smacks against the deck and some anxious peering. A little while later we could see our new stripey friend as he crawled along one of the beams underneath their bungalow. I called out to them so they would know where it was. Eventually it disappeared out of view. We didn’t see it for the rest of the day which was even more concerning. It was a lot less relaxing to go swimming after that.
The next day, there was a new couple staying in that bungalow. We knew they had met our stripey friend when we heard a man scream and fall off the steps into the water. He and his partner went straight back up the stairs. I told them about the events of the day before so they would know to raise their stairs.
For the rest of the holiday, every time we heard a scream we knew the snake had surprised another guest.
To be fair, I had been warned. Sort of. There is a sign near the resort restaurant in French about the striped sea snake, or krait. I didn’t worry too much about it. I thought there must be snakes near the restaurant and I should watch my step so I wouldn’t tread on one by accident. I really didn’t give it any more thought than that. It certainly didn’t occur to me the snakes would be in the water.
There is also a sign in the bungalow:
Here’s a close up, in case you missed it (like we did):
What should you do if you see a sea snake?
Do not touch them. This is not as easy as it sounds. They are an interesting combination of venomous, passive and curious. They also move very quickly in the water. So it will probably see you before you see it, it could kill you if it wanted to, but it probably won’t. My response of being so shocked I couldn’t move seems like the safest course of action.
These snakes are considered so docile that children have been known to pick them up and wear them like scarves. Tragically a young child was bitten and died doing this.
After several snake sightings, on the ferry transfer from Noumea to the resort one day, I finally noticed a slide with instructions to notify reception immediately if you get bitten by a sea snake. Don’t wait, for example, until you are filling out your guest satisfaction survey before flying home to report it.
Put your bungalow stairs up when you’re not swimming. That’s all I’m saying.
Have you had any close encounters with wildlife? Tell us in the comments below.
