Welcome to Cirebon Kertasura Snake Village

Peek at the Process of Snake Skin Processing Before Becoming a Fashion Product

Snakes are one of the creeping animals that are quite frightening for some people. In fact, the creeping animals are associated with a scary impression.

But all kinds of perceptions of that do not apply to the community in Blok 3 Kertasura Village, Kapetak District, Cirebon Regency. Most of the residents in Block 3 depend on the results of catching snakes.

The snake that is caught is processed again for skin and sold to collectors. One of the snake raw material entrepreneurs, Tosin (41) claimed that since 2005 he has been involved in the world of snake animals.

"At first I was just looking for selling snakes, but over time many people asked and were given input to open a snake skin processing business, so yes, I and my family worked on snake skin," he said.

Tosin claimed that from childhood he was familiar with these terrifying species of creeping things. His closeness to the snake also decreased from his father, even the talent decreased to his child.

He said, the snake that was captured was a snake that specifically lives in salty, fresh and brackish water. Snakes that are taken are reptiles that are considered pests for farmers, breeders and farmers.

"I don't take snakes whose habitat on land because of the rules, there must be permits, besides that, the arrest is limited and there must be breeding," Tosin said.

Tosin admitted that the activity of processing snake skin is not done every time. Tosin catches snakes when the weather enters the rainy season.

He said, during the rainy season, the production of snake skin materials can reach 5 quintals per day. The snake skin is taken directly by collectors with prices ranging from IDR 3000 to IDR 50 thousand per skin.

"Depending on the season, the size of the width of the skin and what the rest is made depends on the collectors, but usually used as wallets or other fashion products," he said.
Animal feed

Peek at the Process of Snake Skin Processing Before Becoming a Fashion Product
Meanwhile, besides skin, Tosin also sometimes gets a lot of orders from snake meat. He said, if winter, snake meat is mostly sold.

Tosin admitted that he did not know what meat was bought by the collectors. If meat is unsold, Tosin provides meat for animal feed or ponds such as catfish.

"Maybe it's usually exported because as far as I know snake meat is hot and abroad there is winter when it's usually right to eat snake meat. Everyone who is familiar with snakes must have tried snake meat," he said.

However, Tosin claimed that he did not prioritize selling snake meat to the market. Because, besides not being a staple food, snake meat should not be eaten for Muslims.

He admitted, residents who live dependent on snake catches and processed products are not permanent. Tosin explained, if entering the dry season, residents tend to switch professions into traders to farmers.

"If the season is low, surely snakes will be crowded and we will use the skin to sell if the dry season is normal," he said.

Hereditary

Peek at the Process of Snake Skin Processing Before Becoming a Fashion Product
Nevertheless, the activities of the residents of Blok 3 Desa Kertasura catch and process snakes have been handed down for generations, even people call it the village of snakes. Tosin claimed that the residents' business in processing snakes was crowded.

"The collectors have also memorized who the people are who process snakes and only in this village block," Tosin said.

Usually, processed snakes purchased from Cirebon are resold for export to foreign countries, such as the European Union, Singapore and Australia.

Because the processing is very complicated, in an average month it produces 3 to 4 tons. The income is very uncertain. In addition to depending on the supply of snake shipments, their income depends on orders from the contractor.

"If I am only a small businessman. Because I only supply raw materials. Plus, it is very dependent on orders from the contractor," he said.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://sabatino.epizy.com/wp/2018/08/27/welcome-to-cirebon-kertasura-snake-village/

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