On Sunday night some of our local staff were sitting outside talking when suddenly a snake decided to interrupt their party and inspect our footwear. Hesti, one of the watsan staff, grabbed a shoe and swung at it...at this point the snake raised up and hissed at him, but he ended up killing it anyway. He told me it was a "cobra", but there is some debate about this since the locals say that there aren't any cobras on Nias Island. It wasn't very big, so he dug a hole and buried it before I had a chance to look at it.
Then, just yesterday, I went out near the tool shed and saw a small snake close to the house. I quickly grabbed a dustpan (with a long handle) and smashed it...the snake kind of ended up in two pieces. I'm not sure what kind of snake it was, but the locals were saying it was a poisonous one. It was brownish red with a black and white head and a yellow / orange belly. Usually when a snake has that many colours it's a warning for other things to "stay away" from it (poisonous). I'm trying to look up what species it is to make sure, but haven't found it yet. It's a good thing we sleep in a tent that zips up! 
