After reading
Ruchira and Nilusha Somaweeras' (2010) article on
snake wine in Vietnam curiosity got the best of me. I Googled “snake wine,” and discovered that it
is the name of a music album by a band named Light Pupil Dilate. However, I also found
plenty of websites touting the snake product, explaining its properties and selling it for substantial US dollars. My experience with snakes in wine bottles is restricted
to one restaurant, located close to the National Science Museum in Thailand, that had
several bottles on a shelf with cobras and unidentified colubrids. The Somaweeras’
article is of interest for several reasons. They documented the use of
snakes in snake wine in four cities in Vietnam using surveys conducted at 127
locations selling the serpent beverages. None of the species involved in the commerce
were listed on the IUCN Red List, but seven species were listed in the Vietnam
Red Data Book, of which five are regulated by CITES. The most abundant species
used in the trade, was the natricid Xenochrophis flavipunctatus, a
common snake that inhabits rice paddies and more natural wetlands, it made up
47% of the snakes identified. Perhaps the most significant finding of the
surveys was the diversity of snakes used. The authors identified 1924 snakes composing
more than 18 species (or species complexes) in eight different families. In my web search, a site called
Thailand Unique contained the top photo at the left, and
contained the following text (I have fixed a few spelling errors here).
“Real Californian King Snake whiskey 50ml
37%v/v.
This special whiskey (a.k.a. Rice Wine) is infused with a real farm raised
Californian King snake, ginseng roots and other herbs. The whiskey is steeped
for several months, which then imparts a unique flavour into the drink, giving
it an acquired taste. In SE Asia it is believed to have aphrodisiac properties,
however we make no claims to this. Every bottle is unique in its own way so
therefore the item purchased may differ slightly in looks but not size.”
One look at the photo and it is clear that the snakes in the bottle never
saw California or a farm, they are the Little File Snakes (Acrochordus granulatus), or sea snakes. They are clearly not California Kingsnakes.
Another interesting aspect of this project is that specific species are not being targeted by
the industry. Instead, they appear to be using virtually any species
available, thus the more common species are being harvested. Protecting wildlife from this kind of exploitation can only be solved through education. Laws are ineffective as deterrents to ideas from belief systems that have been around for thousands of years.
