Total immersssssssion therapy

 

Whilst I appreciate many people are afraid of snakes, some even phobic about them, I am always struck by how rarely we have in fact seen them on our Safari trips.

When we first came on a safari I expected snakes dangling from every tree and hiding ready to strike behind every rock. The reality I have learnt from our total immersion therapy of regular safari holidays is that snakes are amongst the most elusive of Africa's fauna.

So to see this Puff Adder on our first safari night drive was a special sighting. Perhaps Africa's most dangerous snake the Puff Adder has the most beautiful colouring which this specimen showed off perfectly.

Puff Adders move in a 'caterpillar' fashion, leaving distinct deep, straight tracks in the sand and, like the one we saw here, are most active at night, preferring to shelter during the day from the sun. They ambush small rodents and birds, and even other snakes. They kill their prey by biting it, and then leaving the prey to die.

The venom is cytotoxic, which attacks the blood cells and tissues. 

A snake in the grass

We saw more snakes this year than on any previous trip, this Yellow Bellied Sand Snake was spotted by out ranger on an early morning bush walk from tena Tena.

A fast-moving, slender snake that averages 70 cm – 1 m. This snake is active during the day and is without doubt one of the fastest snakes (though early in the morning this example was totally stationary. It is fond of basking but will move off rapidly and if there is a shrub or tree close by it may climb to avoid detection. Like some of the other snakes in the genus Psammophis, it will spin if caught by the tail and snap a piece off.

Sand snakes, Grass snakes and Skaapstekers can be very difficult to distinguish from one another – always check the distribution when attempting to identify one of these snakes.

The Western Yellow-bellied Sand snake feeds on lizards, frogs, rodents, small birds and other snakes.

The venom of this snake is very mild and has no real effect on humans.

Python by torchlight

People often ask when they hear of our passion for African safari holidays "But what about the snakes - aren't you scared?".

The truth is we've only been lucky enough to see snakes in the wild a handful of times in more than 25 trips.

Here was a good spot - a young Python (only about 2m ) out hunting early in the evening, caught in the spotlight from our vehicle.

It was to be one of three snake sightings in the trip, more than in any other we've had, perhaps the product of some good rains earlier in the year which would have helped prey species thrive and thus the snakes.

 It rained quite hard when we were in South Luangua in Zambia in 2011, and when we returned to our room after dinner we found these Brown House Snakes entwined around the metal grill screen which separated our bedroom from the outside.