Coucal bird: Natural Enemy of Snakes

Thứ năm - 22/08/2024 22:58

In some gardening groups, many share concerns about snakes entering homes and seek various methods to limit them. Suggestions range from planting lemongrass to employing deeply colored spiritual offerings... However, in nature, every species has its own natural enemies. The Coucal bird is precisely the natural enemy of snakes!

How to encourage Coucal birds to live in your garden?

Certainly, domestic animals are effective at deterring snakes, although venomous ones are a concern and these animals tend to be overly zealous. For instance, I've seen a cat catch a snake, a squirrel, a bird, and three frogs in just three days.

Many places also caution about the impact of domestic animals on wild creatures, suggesting that keeping their numbers moderate is advisable. Personally, I prefer wild species because they not only act as natural enemies but also enrich garden life. Wild species that hunt snakes are quite numerous: monitor lizards, civets, eagles, hawks, and Coucal birds. However, encounters with these species are rare, so I'll focus here on the Coucal bird.

I chose the Coucal because it's a rare large-sized wild species that still survives in gardens. Around 15 years ago, gardens still had plenty of rabbits, civets... 10 years ago, there were many jungle fowl and pheasants.

Currently, aside from Coucal birds, very few large species reside in gardens. However, having Coucal birds in the garden doesn't mean they stay put. There are various reasons, such as light and sound. Particularly sound, as the detrimental effects of light on wild species have been extensively discussed, I'll skip further elaboration to keep this brief.

For all species, each sound holds a distinct significance: a call to friends, territorial affirmation, danger alert...

We understand and have used noise in our interactions with various species. For example, a common historical method to ward off wild animals was to create loud noises, like banging pots and pans to scare them away. A few decades ago in China, sparrows were nearly eradicated using just pots and clapping hands.

However, if the noise from pot banging could scare away even fierce tigers, it pales in comparison to the noise from modern garden machinery. For all species, this persistent noise only signifies human territorial assertion, forcing them to flee.

This is happening now and is easily noticeable, for example, in construction sites.

Some might argue that this has been going on for a long time and animals are adapting. While this holds true for some species, especially those prone to feeding near humans. However, we cannot sustain biodiversity solely on a few species dependent on humans, and not all species can adapt, as the number of species lost continues to rise.

In those noisy garden machines, the plow and grass cutter pose additional threats. The harmful effects of plowing have been extensively discussed, so I'll skip that and focus on the grass cutter. When someone cuts grass, observe the wildlife fleeing in panic. With the speed of the grass cutter, many species are killed, and those that escape often must either flee or starve. Have we ourselves destroyed the biological community that we painstakingly built?

For those proficient with grass cutters, cutting a few hectares a day is not difficult. What we fail to realize is that for those species, this is a massacre, as this area is practically a lifetime's distance they can't cover to find a new home.

I'm not saying I don't understand the value of machinery in the garden. We can find other ways to use them, in a more reasonable manner and at a slower pace. After all, machinery is just a tool; there's no reason to be completely dependent on them, especially when their disadvantages outweigh their benefits. Personally, given a choice, I prefer using an old-fashioned hoe and sickle, despite their slowness in comparison. However, it reduces harm.

Doing things by our own effort also helps temper our illusions of human power, doing what humans can within our limits. However, this is just my personal opinion; let's return to the snake's natural enemy right after this.

>>>See More: How to Prevent Snakes from Entering Your House Easy

Key Information about Coucal Birds

In Vietnam, there are two species of Coucal birds, differing slightly in color and size, known as large and small Coucal. The larger Coucal is more commonly encountered. Coucal belongs to the cuckoo group. You can recognize them by their appearance, somewhat resembling other members of the group like the koel or the coucal. Their call often repeats the sound "cu cu."

However, unlike many famous cuckoo species known for laying eggs in other birds' nests, Coucal birds are responsible parents. Only Coucal birds bring back snakes as stored food for their young and find medicinal leaves for their injured offspring.

Like many species, Coucal birds know the best time to reproduce. I've heard them call frequently recently, indicating their breeding season has begun. The next season is usually near the Lunar New Year.

Coucal birds nest in bushes close to the ground, such as thickets, near water edges. Overall, their lives are closely tied to shrubs; they are born in shrubs, and throughout their lives, they continue to forage in shrubs.

Their feet are very helpful in this regard. If you pay attention, you'll notice that while chicken feet and most other bird species have three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward, Coucal bird feet have two toes pointing forward and two backward.

Chicken feet can only scratch the ground, and when they jump onto trees, they can only perch in one place. Tree-dwelling bird species hop around when they touch the ground. In contrast, Coucal birds can move on trees thanks to their strong feet. When on the ground, their sturdy toes provide good grip, allowing them to move about. Of course, this foot structure also has its drawbacks, as Coucal birds cannot move quickly, coupled with their overly long tails and heads that often droop, making them look somewhat clumsy.

Coucal birds are sedentary species, and their wings are only suitable for short-distance gliding flights. They survive in gardens due to their adaptable diet, ranging from plant seeds, tubers to insects, snails, worms, and even snakes.

Due to their association with wild shrubs, Coucal birds are linked to the last natural patches remaining in gardens. If we consider wild blueberries as indicators of the final ecological positions in plants, the same could be said for Coucal birds among animals. Therefore, we should not allow Coucal birds to disappear.

>>>Read More: Interesting Facts About Ants

Coucal Birds - Natural Enemies of Snakes

It seems every natural enemy species has its unique methods. Eagles and hawks with sharp talons and beaks can kill snakes instantly; monitor lizards can resist snake venom, and civets are the most strategic species. It's said that in India, civets are even used for entertainment to fight against deadly cobras. However, monitor lizards are rarely encountered in the wild, and eagles and hawks, as well as civets, are negatively perceived for hunting chickens and are being hunted everywhere.

Leaving only Coucal birds. What we need to consider is how Coucal birds catch snakes, so they can fulfill their role.

Coucal birds hunt snakes because their food environment is always linked to dense shrubs, dry branches, and piles, which are also hiding places for snakes. To catch snakes, Coucal birds don't have sharp claws or formidable tactics but rely on boldness and strength, especially a strong grip from their beak.

Some suggest keeping Coucal birds to keep snakes away from homes. While this may be true, I doubt its effectiveness. It's evident that Coucal birds are diurnal, whereas most snakes are nocturnal. By the time snakes appear indoors, Coucal birds are already asleep, so they're not effective in defending us.

When keeping Coucal birds, one might hope they hunt snakes, but disappointment follows when you see them eating unrelated items like chicken eggs and chicks: Coucal birds are omnivorous. Apart from naturally hunting snakes, because they share the same habitat as snakes, Coucal birds cannot do this as a domesticated animal.

We might want Coucal birds to patrol the dense shrubs around the house to drive snakes away. Instead, why not simply clean up the dense bushes too close to the house? (Living in a jungle garden doesn't have to mean living directly under the canopy of the forest, just look back at the ancient villages in the Central Highlands, where despite living in the midst of the great forest, their villages were always open and airy. That's how they managed to fend off wild animals, mosquitoes, malaria, and enemies.)

Some say Coucal bird droppings can repel snakes, which may be true, but they may forget how large their house is and how much droppings are needed to spread around. Ignoring hygiene and the lasting/rapid effects of this chemical weapon, Coucal birds only need to eat and excrete daily.

It should also be noted that some say Coucal birds often bring snakes back to their nests, which in this case would be our homes. So, those who want to keep Coucal birds to ward off snakes might think differently when Coucal birds themselves bring snakes home.

Considering this, keeping Coucal birds to repel snakes seems impractical. I firmly believe that allowing Coucal.

Written by Veque.com.vn

Tags: Rural Life