James Ashe Antivenom Trust

I am sporting a sticking plaster on my finger - my just desserts for an untidy capture.

I got an excited telephone call from my neighbour to tell me that there was a huge python in her garden, asking if I would come to collect the snake immediately. She assured me I would not be attacked by her herd of German Shepherds, who had all been shut away for their own safety.

I woke Ferry, our young top snake catcher. Together, armed only with torches, a towel and a big box, we went round to the neighbour’s house.

By then, the python was seriously annoyed because the husband had been preventing it from escaping into the thickets in his garden by holding its tail whenever it turned to run. The snake was coiled in an angrily defensive heap, tail held in a little knot (a sure sign of agitation) and exuding the very pungent alarm smell typical of pythons.

I flipped the towel over its head, plunged down and grabbed at neck and tail. It was not nearly as big as my neighbour had thought but that is normally the case. It was certainly big enough to have made a meal of her latest beautiful 4 month old puppy!

Ferry unwrapped a coil which the python had put round my arm and together we lifted the snake into the box. The lid went on, but it went on the wrong way round, easy to do by torchlight and in the heat of the moment.

Ferry quickly turned the lid right side around, but not quite quickly enough. The head and neck of the furious python slithered out. I grabbed the snake and stuffed it back inside the box. When I accidentally got my other hand too close to its mouth, the python gave a sideways snap and dug two of its long teeth into the side of my finger.

The teeth are so sharp that such bites tend to bleed dramatically. However, they generally look much worse than they are.

The night watchman who had first found the snake had been watching all this and was most impressed. He does not truly believe us that the snake is non-venomous, preferring rather to accept that I must have powerful protection to undertake such dangerous work.

Not only did I have a sore finger but I had landed on a bunch of stinging nettles so one leg was prickling uncomfortably. There is more to snake catching than merely grabbing the snake!

We have had to remove so many pythons recently that we must now arrange for a major relocation to an area where they will find food and not come into conflict with humans.

We are proud of the training and experience of our staff at Bio-Ken Snake Farm. High standards help to keep them safe.

Our foreman and a young snake-handler had been helping a big Black Mamba to shed properly. They were about to return it to its cage when, from an unnoticed nest under the roof, 3 or 4 wasps dive-bombed the foreman and stung him on his head.

The foreman was holding the head end of the snake. The head was in his left hand, his right hand was holding part of the body and his assistant had the tail end. The foreman’s right hand came up to flap at his stings but he retained the head safely.

I happened to be passing and witnessed this. The foreman seemed to be hesitating, still within range of further wasp attack so I called loudly to him to come away and put the snake into a different empty cage, which he did, very neatly.

I know the foreman is somewhat allergic to bee stings; I rushed him to the doctor who gave him an injection and tablets to follow up. He recovered quite rapidly. While we were at the clinic, he told me that the pain and shock had been so great that he had actually forgotten he was holding a snake until I called him. Yet neither he nor his assistant had panicked, dropped the snake or run off.

Both escaped being bitten by the Black Mamba, one of Africa’s most dangerous and feared snakes, because of the foreman’s steady grip on the snake’s head. His years of snake-handler training and experience paid off well today!

I recently went to the Nairobi National Museum for a one-day reptile husbandry workshop, organised by Mrs. Damaris Rotich, Curator of the National Museum Snake Park and opened by the Museum Director, Dr. Idle Omar Farah.

The main speakers were Prof. John E. Cooper of the University of the West Indies and his wife Mrs. Margaret Cooper, a solicitor who told us about international law involving reptiles and ethics.

Kenya Wildlife Service representative Nancy Kabete gave us the Kenya perspective. Prof. Titus Kanui and his team from University of Nairobi talked about a study they are doing on captive Hinge-backed Tortoises.

We were a mixed batch in the audience - reptile keepers, students, enthusiasts and many of us with long-standing links to the Nairobi Snake Park. None was shy about putting forward ideas and asking questions so it was a lively meeting, especially nice as an opportunity to meet up with old friends.

Jackson Iha (left) and Michael Cheptumo (right), retired Curators of the Nairobi Snake Park

Photo courtesy of Margaret Cooper

A one-day workshop on the Care, Health and Welfare of Reptiles was held at the Nairobi Snake Park, National Museums of Kenya, on Wednesday 13 th June, 2007. Sponsored and supported by the British Herpetological Society (BHS), the workshop was designed primarily for those who keep and exhibit reptiles. It was intended to provide an introduction to the care of snakes, lizards, tortoises and crocodiles in captivity and how best to keep them healthy. Fifty people attended the workshop and these participants included curators of reptile collections, owners of “snake parks” and similar exhibits, academics, professional and amateur herpetologists and local naturalists.

Dr. John Cooper teaching in the Nairobi Snake Park pit; in his capable hands: a boomslang

The programme for the morning consisted of lectures on the biology of reptiles, legal aspects, captive management and health. In the afternoon there was practical work – handling of live reptiles, health-monitoring, clinical investigations and postmortem examination.

Dr. Cooper demonstrates correct procedure for herpetological autopsy

All attendees received copies of course notes and literature that was kindly provided by the BHS, the British Chelonia Group (BCG) and the journal “Applied Herpetology“.

Dr. John and Margaret Cooper with workshop participants

Full reports are in preparation. Further information about these and other events planned by the Nairobi Snake Park, National Museums of Kenya is available through Ms. Damaris Rotich, Senior Curator, National Museums of Kenya or Professor John E. Cooper, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad.

Photographs courtesy of Margaret Cooper.