Killers of snakes

Killers of snakes
face hard labor

JAKARTA (JP): The chief of Sukajadi village in Tasikmalaya
regency, West Java, is threatening to punish anyone who kills
snakes in the area to 10 days of hard labor in a bid to protect
rice fields from rat attacks.

He said he has resorted to this threat because the rampant
killing of snakes, the natural predators of rats, has caused the
rat population to become larger and larger, the Kompas daily
reported yesterday.

Memed Sumarya, the village head, said that due to the falling
number of snakes the rat population has jumped uncontrollably,
destroying large areas of rice fields.

About half of the 140 hectares of rice fields in the village
have been devastated by rat attacks over the last three rice
planting seasons, resulting in much reduced levels of rice
production, Memed said.

"We have actually tried various methods to fight against rats.
We have resorted to poison, manual killing and fumigation but
nothing was able to stop the rat attacks," he said.

Local people also used to breed owls as another rat-control
technique, he said. This proved to be ineffective because the
large number of rats frightened the owls and drove them away.

"The last choice falls on snakes which through their
protection are expected to naturally help cut the rat
population," Memed said. (hhr)