Eep.
The Japanese Rat Snake.
Arriving at school yesterday morning, I encountered a wild snake in Japan for the very first time.
I'd just arrived at Kinashi Elementary School when the serpent made it's appearance. The students typically arrive about an hour before I do to play sports in the morning, and so by this point they were all inside the school. I was by myself in the grounds as I wheeled my bike around to the staff bike sheds. The snake was directly in front of me, about six foot long, and slithering beneath the wheels of the other bikes. It was only when I was about three feet away from it that I finally spotted it, and I froze completely with fear.
The snake was moving away from me, luckily, and while undoubtedly it had seen me it seemed to take no interest. It continued to move under the bikes until it left the shed and made it's way towards some bushes by the ball. When it was finally several feet away, I quickly locked my bike down and walked very cautiously back to the school, keeping my eyes on it until I was a good distance away.
I reported the snake to the school, and whatever happened next took place without my knowledge as I had to teach classes throughout the first two periods. Whatever happened, the snake must have left the premises, but as is often the case in Japan I wasn't given any more information than that. I was thanked later in the day by the school principle for reporting it, and they told me that it was apparently quite a big one. I hope that it caught rather than simply spotted leaving, or else just assumed to have left. The Kinashi area is full of rows and rows of beautiful bonsai trees, and it would be incredibly easy for a snake to hide in amongst them.
The bonsai fields in Kinashi.
Certain snakes are particularly dangerous in Japan, including the infamous mamushi (the Japanese pit viper) that occasionally pops up around rural areas Kagawa. Mamushi are notorious for (according to Wikipedia) attacking around 2000-3000 people a year, having severely powerful venom that can take up to a week in hospital to be treated for, and which kills several people every year who can't handle it. I had no knowledge of what snake it was at the time, but it certainly doesn't appear to fit the description of the mamushi. It seems far more likely that what I saw was a Japanese rat snake, which is apparently non-venomous. Still bloody terrifying, though.
I'd gone two years without having seen a snake, yet I'd come within very close distance of one and had taken quite the shock at the time. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes peeled on the ground whenever I visit more rural areas in Kagawa again!
