Processing half a ton of snakes per day in the floating season, drying and selling “expensive like hot cakes”
Quach Thi My Lan’s dried snake processing facility (in An Giang) has been operating for over 25 years.
People living in the watershed of Dong Thap province are very busy with many unique occupations, including hunting snakes and termites, which bring a significant source of income.
In the flood season, people’s livelihood activities in the watershed of Dong Thap province are very busy with many unique occupations; in which, the hunting of snakes and termites is a significant source of income for the family during the flood season.
Termite snakes are four-legged reptiles, living mainly in groves, bushes, or wastelands. When the flood season comes, the water is flooded, there is no place to hide, and snakes and termites gather in the bushes along the embankment routes.
Taking advantage of this, many locals go fishing for termites to make food and sell to eateries and restaurants. However, it is extremely difficult to catch these agile termites.
Taking advantage of the leisure time in the flood season, Mr. Dao Cong Sol lives in Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district to fish for termites in the local dike lines.
According to Mr. Dao Cong Sol, termites are found in nature all year round, but in the flood season, there is no place to live, so they focus on highland areas, so it is more convenient to catch them.
Termites can make many delicious dishes, but baking is still a traditional, easy-to-make dish, chosen by many people. After being cleaned, and grilled on embers, the scent is sweet and very attractive.
The special thing is that although fishing for snakes and termites, there is only a fishing rod without a hook. Mr. Sol used a fishing rod with a hollow design in the middle to thread the line.
This rope is firmly tied at the top of the fishing rod like a noose to grab and hold the termite snake. When he saw a termite snake, he gently approached, slowly put the noose across the termite’s belly, then used his hand to pull the rope to tighten them.
“In the past, I used to use bait, but now termites are shy and hard to stick, so I use a noose to catch them more easily,” Mr. Sol said.
Mr. Tran Van Long is also one of those who have quite skillful snake fishing techniques in Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district. We had the opportunity to follow Mr. Long to fish for termites on the embankment, surrounded by vast fields of water. In less than 20 minutes, he caught nearly 10 big, fat, bright yellow ones.
Mr. Tran Van Long shared: “Along with properly aligning the noose loop when I brought it close to the termite snake, I also whistled to get its attention, raised my head, and put the loop on the snake’s body and pulled it. easier to hit.”
According to many termite snake hunters in Hong Ngu district, termite snake meat is very delicious, light fat, can be processed into many dishes such as: deep fried, fried with lemongrass and chili, fried with turmeric, grilled with salt and chili… Termite snakes have a high selling price, more than 300,000 VND/kg.
If lucky and skilled, each person can catch 1-2kg/day, earning several hundred thousand dong. With the economic value brought, at present, many people have implemented the model of raising termites for commercial sale, but the meat quality is not as good as that of natural termites, so the selling price is lower.
