Bites! That's practically the first question anyone asks me when I talk of my croc bank vacation. Did I get bitten? Yes, several times, mostly by accident. But sometimes I allowed myself to be bitten just for the heck of it. I recall once when a ratsnake gave me a bite on the nose. I tried to prevent Rom seeing it but he found out soon enough by the blood on my shirt. A bite from a ratsnake is not painful but it bleeds like a leaking tap. "Don't worry, Rahul," Rom said cheerfully, "the venom will not take effect for another half an hour." (Ratsnakes are non-poisonous.)
Another time I was getting a picture taken of myself with a baby crocodile when it turned round and bit me. That was quite bad! Imagine a sawing machine running over your hand. But I was cool, and happy that I had been bitten by a crocodile!
Then I was dumb enough to try the bite of a wall lizard that Gerry had caught to feed to his pit vipers. The scar, still on my hand, reminds me also of the chequered keelback bite I got in Pune (the one which got so bad that I couldn't wear my watch for a few days).
And on the last day of my stay at Croc Bank the red-eared turtle which I was taking away as my gift and souvenir from Croc Bank bit me so bad that I could see my flesh and I could barely use my hand for a few days.
Now when I look back I think I was collecting bites in much the same way that some people collect trophies. Although this may appear quite a foolish thing to do and perhaps it was too (some of the bites were quite painful), one good thing did come out of all those bites. I have no paranoid fear of such bites any longer. I am very careful when I handle reptiles and take all the precautions that I have been taught but I know that I would not be terror stricken should I get bitten and would know what remedial steps to take.
Apart from my practical studies, there was a huge library at the Croc Bank where I would browse through several books on crocs, snakes, monitors, turtles, the works. It was always with great pleasure that I would search for information about something that I had learnt or seen that day. And the best part is that although I didn't have to memorize the facts for any examination, nothing of what I read has gone out of my head.