| M.S. Balasubramaniam | |
|---|---|
Snake Shyam |
|
| Born | Krishnarajanagara, Karnataka, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Snake Enthusiast, Auto rickshaw Driver |
| Known for | Snake enthusiasm |
M.S. Balasubramaniam, popularly known as Snake Shyam, is a snake enthusiast, wildlife conservationist and lecturer in Mysore, India.[1] Though not a trained herpetologist,[2] he is known throughout the Mysore region as a "naturalist on wheels".[3] Shyam rescues and rehabilitates snakes and educates the public about them.[4] He is also sometimes consulted by local hospitals to identify a species of snake prior to treating a snakebite victim.[5]
Shyam has been widely recognized for his work. National Geographic featured him in its Croc Chronicles: Snakes, Karma, Action special.[5] Mysore city has named a street for him and has dedicated its first "urban forest" to him and fellow environmentalist Hyder Ali Khan.[2][6]
Shyam is also known for his personal flamboyance and has been described by The Hindu as "easily the most recognisable characters [sic] of Mysore, complete with his sun hat, overflowing beads and multiple rings that adorn his fingers".[1]
Shyam was born to M.R.Subbarao and A.Nagalakshmi Mirle in Krishnarajanagara in the state of Karnataka, India, which is in the Mysore district.[7] He demonstrated his interest in snakes at an early age, when a snake invaded a neightbor's home. After convincing those around not to kill the snake, he caught it and released it into the garden. From this incident, he earned his nickname.
By profession, Shyam was a driver, transporting children to school, but beginning in 1982 he began to be frequently called upon to retrieve snakes that had encroached on people's properties, a job for which he receives no pay.[2][7] Called multiple times each day, Shyam uses a pillowcase and a badminton racquet without strings to net the snakes, which he then releases into the forest.[2] Though his avocation to safely remove these snakes has cost him considerable expense, Shyam continues from the desire to see these snakes released rather than killed.[5] Recently, authorities in Mysore have offered to defray some of Shyam's expenses by paying his telephone bills.[1]
In 2004, he estimated that he may have caught and released over 40,000 snakes since he began in 1982;[2] as of February 2008, the official record, which he began in 1999, was 11,755.[1] Though Shyam has only been bitten four times in his rescue work,[1] he has developed an allergy to antivenin, which requires that he exercise great care in handling snakes.[5]
His knowledge of snakes—he can identify 28-30 local species of snakes—is founded on personal experience, but supplemented by reading the works of or speaking to professionals such as Romulus Whitaker, J.C. Daniel and faculty at Mysore University.[2] Shyam's van features paintings depicting snakes and also displays his slogans: "Snakes are not as poisonous as human beings" and "Care for the rare".[5]