Penang - Snake Temple

My last stop on my trip to Penang was the Snake Temple. It's right next to the airport, so I stopped by for a quick visit on the way to catch my flight. This place is seriously creepy. I'm not usually frightened by snakes. Growing up in as semi rural area, you know to leave snakes alone or bash them to death quickly. One or the other. Seeing them behind glass in a zoo is also not that threatening. Here though, at the snake temple, they gave me the heeby geebies!


The problem is, that they're just lying around the place. I knew it was the snake temple, but I expected the snakes to be in a specially designated snake viewing area. No way! You walk into the temple and they're just lying on the alter. A whole bunch of them! No cage, no fence. They're right there in front of you, with nothing between you and them apart from your common sense. Creepy!


It comes as quite a shock when you realise those green things are actually live snakes. It must be pretty common, as there's a quaint sign that reads: "All snakes are live snakes, but visitors are requested not to prod or harm the snakes, as they may be injured". Another sign reads "All visitors touching or handling the snakes do so at their own risk". Right. Don't touch them, don't go near them. I was so tempted to give one a tongue pash. Just as well I saw the sign!

I eventually calmed down and got used to seeing them lying about on the alter. I then headed into the next part of the temple. There they were again. More snakes! This time, they were just sitting on a table! Yes, that's right, a table. Knife, fork, spoon, snake. Eeeek! It's like they'd spilled them from the tub'o'snakes and just left the excess lying about!


Just to make it even creapier, they're not your usual pythons that you see in zoos. They're proper snakes. Deadly snakes. Snakes with big fangs and lots of poison! They're Wagler's pit vipers. According to the web, they are not social snakes. If kept together, they will become agressive and violent. Just what you want in snakes they keep lying around on tables.

To be fair, the snakes are meant to have been defanged and they do represent a long tradition of snakes being associated with healing. I didn't give much thought to the origins of the tradition, however, I ran in, took some pics and got the hell out!