James Ashe Antivenom Trust

This story is just in from our friend and colleague, Anthony Childs. Anton, as he likes to be called, and his wife Emma run Elsa’s Kopje Lodge near Meru in Kenya. He is also an Associate and Collector for Bio-Ken Snake Farm. Anton holds Silver Guide certification from the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, the highest level of recognition in the field and an honour shared by our own Royjan Taylor.

Anton has been collecting snakes for over 20 years in such wonderful locations as Amboseli National Park, Tsavo East and Tsavo West, and now in Meru.

Here’s his report to us:

“At approximately 6:00am on October 13, when the driver/guides were bringing their vehicles up to the Lodge for early morning game drives, they found a Puff adder (Bitis arietans) on the track to Reception. The Reception staff called me to investigate.

On closer inspection the snake, which appeared very much alive, was in fact found to be very dead! My immediate thoughts were that it had been run over, but there were no vehicle tracks over the snake’s tracks in the near vicinity. I left the snake where it was. Pondering over what actually did happen, I returned to the office.

The Lodge’s trainee manager/guide Andrew Pleasance, on his way up from the workshop, also came upon the dead Puff adder. With camera in hand, he snapped a few pictures before coming to talk with me about the snake.

I informed Andrew the snake was dead; that surprised him as it looked totally unscathed. He went back to investigate further. What he found was not really conclusive but there was a mention of another snake track on the road which would prove to be from the culprit.

The Puff adder when found was in perfect shape and showed no real sign of anything having started swallowing it. Rigamortis had not set in and the belly was extremely dark and soft, maybe indicating cytotoxin.

I suggested that Andrew cut off the head, bury it in sand and retrieve the skull at a later date. Bacteria and insects will do their job, and the head will come out clean. The cleaned skull can be used to teach our guides about the snake’s anatomy. It would help dispel the myth that pulling the fags out makes it possible to freehandle them.

Andrew duly cut off the Puff adder’s head and buried it in some sand near his quarters and threw the rest of the Puff adder into the bushes near where we initially found it.

We then didn’t give the dead snake another thought until about 8pm when we were called by the night askari (watchman) over the radio who said that there was a “Black mamba” (Dendroaspis polylepis) on the road where the Puff adder had been! By the time I got there the mamba had disappeared and could not be found, so we went back for dinner.

We were called again at about 11pm half way through the Rugby World Cup semi-final as the snake had returned. This time it hadn’t disappeared by the time we arrived, so we boxed the snake for relocation in the morning.

The mystery was resolved: there was no “Black mamba.” The Puff adder had been killed by an Ashe’s Spitting cobra (Naja ashei)! The cobra had probably been disturbed before it could start injesting its meal. It had hidden itself until the evening before coming back out to relocate its meal. The case of the cobra eating the adder was a matter of “snake eaters!”

It is not unusual that snakes eat snakes. Our experience in this case reinforces the fact that ‘Ashe’s Spitting cobra’ is particularly fond of Puff adders. We released the cobra a fair distance from the camp in an area where it is far less likely to come into conflict with humans.”

Photo by Andrew Pleasance

Engaged recently in a conversation about phobias, I could not quickly think what to suggest to an acquaintance whose horror was the sound of people chewing; that was a real social stopper! Later, I wish I had asked if she had ever listened to the sound of a grazing cow or horse. That, to me has always been a soothing noise, made even better by the lovely smell of fresh cut grass.

Are you phobic about snakes, other species of animals or, indeed, anything?

Panicky, unwarranted fear of snakes is a commonplace: “Oh, I can’t even watch them on television without having nightmares.” A snake phobia can be general, or it can be an unwarranted fear of specific aspects of snakes, their movement, a particular colour or pattern and so on. Only a little general knowledge of snakes, plus the wish to overcome your fear of them, is all that you need to conquer your snake phobia.

To be reasonably frightened of snakes is not a bad thing. A good jolt of adrenaline at an unexpected encounter can cause you to leap out of harm’s way. Irrational panic, however, can lead to dangerously illogical actions.

To make sure that your fear is reasonable, warranted and manageable, learn whatever you can about snakes that are commonly found in your area or, if you are traveling, in the places you intend to visit.

Learn to recognise the local snakes and to distinguish which are harmless and which are venomous. Become familiar with the snakes’ habits, whether they are diurnal or nocturnal, what is their main source of food and where you are most likely to find them.

Knowing where snakes live, hunt and sleep can help you avoid an unexpected and unwelcome meeting with any snake. Being able to recognize the different species and to discern the venomous ones will prepare you to evaluate the risk of danger in a rational way. More importantly, it will equip you with the confidence you need, so that you will not panic during any chance encounter with members of the local snake species.

A new resident in Watamu came to Bio-Ken Snake Farm especially seeking help to overcome the debilitating hysteria she felt about snakes. We showed her our live specimens and told her which were harmless and which presented a threat. It was good that she spent some time with us, and made a serious effort to learn about snakes.

The lady encountered a snake in her garden only two weeks after her visit with us. She astonished herself by standing her ground, identifying it and remembering that it was not a dangerous species. She able to watch calmly as it vanished rapidly off into a flowerbed. She was immensely proud of herself and we were delighted to hear of her success in taming her phobia!

For more information about snakes that might be common in your part of the world, visit SnakeTracks, the Southeastern Hot Herp Society, or contact us at Bio-Ken Snake Farm.

One myth we get from Europeans is that vipers, who bear live babies rather than lay eggs, climb trees to give birth so that the babies drop away and do not have a chance to bite Mummy.

Not true. I was pointing out that many heavy-bodied vipers would have a hard time climbing the easiest tree, when a man in the audience insisted that he had had a baby viper land on his head from a coconut tree! He had captured the unfortunate infant in a waste-paper basket and produced it as proof.

Yes, it really was a baby Puff Adder, one of Africa’s four ‘giant’ vipers. The only possible answer was that a predatory crow had carried it up to eat it, but had dropped or simply abandoned it up there.

It was a lesson to me never to say “You will never find a Puff Adder up a tree.” In nature almost anything is possible!

There is a belief in many countries that some snakes squeak, or sing. In fact what happens is that many creatures, when caught by a snake, give a very distinctive call. Hear that call, you’ll find a snake but it may have eaten the caller before you get to it so you believe the snake itself made the noise.

We have singing pythons around Watamu in Kenya - always a female, I am told, and only when it is raining.

I went with a small group of naturalists one rainy night to the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest edge where we could hear three separate singing pythons. We could also hear local farmers banging trees and shouting to scare off raiding elephants so it was all quite exciting.

The ’song’ was an eerie single note, held in increasing volume for a few seconds, like someone blowing across the top of an empty bottle. The calls went on and on but we could not find a way through a thorny tangle to the source.

An expert ornithologist, Colin Jackson (Director of A Rocha, a Christian nature conservation organisation, and a Research Associate of the National Museums of Kenya) with us recorded the sound and verified that it was the call of the Streaky-Breasted Fluff Tail, one of the local bird species. One of our best local snake collectors insisted that he had once captured a female python at the spot where this same sound was heard. That snake never called in captivity.

My theory is that the bird roosts near a female python who will be staying for about three months, brooding her eggs. The python will be good protection for the bird from other predators.

This theory needs verification; we will get it one day. On the other hand, perhaps we should continue to believe that some snakes sing.

My mother never wanted to know for sure that the moon is NOT made of green cheese!