Kandal and Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities have called on residents to be more careful with snakes and other venomous animals in the rainy season.

The call came after a farmer was bitten and killed by a snake while lifting fishing equipment in Koki Thom commune of Kandal province’s Kien Svay district on October 19.

According local media reports that cited commune police, the farmer – a 51-year-old from the commune’s Raing Dek village – saw a cobra tangled in his fishing equipment. When he tried to remove it, the snake bit him on his index finger.

Provincial Department of Health director Kuy Bunthoeun told The Post on October 20 that although the number of snake bites had decreased, cases still occurred when people were not wary.

Every rainy season, he said, snakes and other venomous animals are always flushed out of nests, increasing chances of a dangerous encounter. So people have to be very careful and avoid these animals.

“Because it’s the rainy season, we have spread the word to all health centres and public hospitals so that they are prepared to rescue people and stock enough medicine for snake bites. When there is rising water, these animals are likely to appear,” he said.

In Banteay Meanchey province, Nong Samrang, the police chief of O’Bei Choan commune close to the Thai border, told The Post on October 20 that authorities had spread the word about safety measures to protect themselves from snakes and other venomous animals during the wet season.

He added that due to the floods in the province, snakes, centipedes and scorpions escape the rising water by heading to higher ground. Authorities have always educated local people to be careful because the commune is prone to floods in all seasons.

“Because we live near streams, we have to deal with a lot of water when it rains or water flows from Thailand. We often face floods, so people have to be very careful, though this year’s flood season in our commune has seen no deaths caused by venomous animals,” he said.