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Horse Snake
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by smagee on August 27, 2008
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Has anyone heard of a Horse Snake? My 5th grade class is reading a story that describes a snake from Vietnam that is venomous, a constrictor, and agressive. I have been trying to find a picture of this snake, but with little success. I was thinking that the name Horse-Snake might be a local name.
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RE: Horse Snake
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by Chris_Harper on August 27, 2008
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No such animal. It sounds like a conglomeration of someone's snake nightmares. Usually people that conjur up these things tend to know nothing about snakes, but definitely know what they don't like about them.
We had some fun with one of these many years ago, also alleged to be from Vietnam. We were asked if we'd ever heard of the Buffalo cobra from Vietnam. We said, "Sure, here's a photo."
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/showfilepage/495?offset=20
CH
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RE: Horse Snake
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by Cro on August 27, 2008
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The story of the Horse Snake seems to have had it's start in a childrens book called:
"The Land I Lost and Water Buffalo Days," by Huynh Quang Nhuong.
The book was about what it was like being a child in the 1950' Vietnam. There is a section in the book where a grandmother is telling stories to the kids, and one of the stories is about a Horse Snake invading a village.
It seems that this mythical animal is well established in Vietnamese folk lore, but does not exist in the real world.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Horse Snake
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by plainblain on August 27, 2008
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John, where in the world do you come up with this information? How do you know about Nam forelore? I am totally impressed.
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RE: Horse Snake
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by Cro on August 28, 2008
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Blain, I have several friends who are Vietnam Vets.
A couple of them are snake enthusiasts, and years ago, we were discussing the Two-Step Snake, and one of them brought up the fabled Horse Snake. Seems that he heard a story about a huge snake, with a face like a horse, that sometimes invaded villages. I did a bit of research on both snakes at that time. If I had to guess, I think the Horse Snake idea might have come from an encounter with a python.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Horse Snake
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by FSB on August 28, 2008
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Cro, what exactly is the snake that they refer to as the "two step?" I have a lot of Vietnam vet friends too, and they're always mentioning that, and I'm not sure what exact snake it is. My brother (who is not a Vietnam vet, but just thinks he is) once referred to my Pope's viper as being a two step, but I don't think that's right.
And thanks for confirming my immediate suspicion that the origin of the "horse snake" is folkloric. Snakes in folklore and mythology is a fascinating topic to me.
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RE: Horse Snake
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by Chris_Harper on August 28, 2008
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The 2 Step is Trimeresurus albolabris, the White lipped viper, and the folklore is that once you are bitten, you take 2 steps and die. This is FAR from the truth however. White lipped bites have caused fatalities, but they have no special power within the snake world. The symptoms are those of other vipers and you could die perhaps in 2 to 4 days without treatment.
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RE: Horse Snake
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by FSB on August 28, 2008
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Dang, I swear I almost said "... is it T. albolabris?" And of course the "two steps and you're dead" thing is a myth, unless your second step happens to fall on a landmine. The hundred pace snake (Deinagkistrodon acutus) would be another example of this thinking... a tiny bit more reasonable, but not much.
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RE: Horse Snake
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by tcher48 on June 14, 2013
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Thank you so much for this information! I teach "The Horse Snake" as well and have been making myself crazy trying to find a picture of the darned thing. Now it makes sense. Actually kind of glad it doesn't exist from the description in the story. *shudder*
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