James Ashe Antivenom Trust

I had enjoyed my evening yesterday - out in the Arabuko/Sokoke sand quarry swamp, wading around in waterbug infested water, frog spotting.

It is late in the season for frogs so only about eight or nine species were still calling but they made a fine sound that left one’s ears ringing.

As extra treats, we found a roosting Pygmy Kingfisher and a sleeping chameleon. There were not too many mosquitoes. We were a safe six kilometres away from a stray hippo that has been wandering round the forest in the rain.

I got home wet and happy, cooked a late supper and was thinking of bed when I had a call-out to collect a small snake from a nearby hotel.

When I got there it was to find that a night watchman had enthusiastically smashed the snake to death with his rungu, a kind of billy-club.

The snake was of a harmless species. This is the third time this has happened at this particular hotel. We have successfully collected other snakes there, and even a large crocodile that had been flooded out of a river and had come inside the reef after adventuring at sea.

I was so cross that I snarled at the hotel staff that I would never again come here on a call-out and stormed off. Royjan will have to ‘pour oil’ because that hotel does send us guests to see round the farm - and that helps to pay our bills!

“I’ve been bitten by a snake!” Well, maybe……

You have to be a detective, asking the right questions to get to an identification of the species “wot did it”.

The sort of information we look for:-

At what time did the bite occur?
What was your location when bitten?
Did you see the snake? Describe it (seldom totally accurate).
Did anyone bring in the snake? Proper identification often depends on visual examination of the snake itself by a qualified expert.
Where was it? Up a tree, on the ground, in a hole?
What did the snake do? Quick bite, or hanging on? Make a noise, stand tall & defy you, run off at once?
What are you feeling now? Describe your symptoms throughout.
Have you taken any medications since the bite?

Some snakebites have serious consequences, ranging from temporary suffering, through permanent disability, to possible death. Statistics on envenoming and its consequences (even by other animals like spiders, scorpions, bees, will be of interest) will help in the proper treatment of victims.

If you have a case to tell me about, I would like to know all of the above and, if your doctor wouldn’t mind, his/her case history of treatment would be valuable. Email us at Bio-Ken Snake Farm with full details.