Rian has been working with reptiles for 22 years, and is always available for relocations, reptile-related help, or just to chat snakes.
Walking around in your space of tranquillity, flowers and the birds and bees all around you. The hard labours of your hands are finally bearing fruit around you as your garden begins to bloom. Lush greens accentuated by vivid blues, deep reds, and all the colours of the rainbow. At peace with the world in your own little Eden, and then, out of the corner of your eye, you see a branch move, on the ground. Paradise instantly turns into a nightmare, as a serpent slithers amidst the beauty you have laboured over…
A scene that has all-too-often played out in everyone’s head in various forms. What do you do when you encounter a snake unexpectedly? How do you survive what most would deem as a life-threatening situation?
First off, stay calm. Easier said than done, yes, but it’s to your benefit. A snake, when surprised is just as scared of you. You are bigger, and that classes you as a bigger predator to them, so they have to decide to take flight or stand and fight, much preferring to just disappear quickly without any fuss. If there is no escape for them, then they will defend themselves, but still afford you the opportunity to back off and let them be on their way. We have over 140 species of snakes in South Africa, and of those, about 14 of them have caused deaths. Some of the remaining have venom that is either innocuous to us, or is considered mild in its effects in general
Carefully move away from the snake, while keeping an eye on the sharp end (the head). If you cannot identify the snake with 1000% assurance, then don’t try and touch, kill or go near it. Some nasty characters like the Stiletto snake, a seemingly harmless drab dark brown/black snake (sometimes with white flanks) is common in this area, but packs a nasty venom that is extremely painful, and can lead to hospitalisation, and loss of digits.
Keep an eye on the snake from at least 4m away (spitting cobras and rinkhals can spit to around 3 – 3.5m), and phone someone qualified to remove the snake safely. In the bush, watch it gracefully sail off into the wild, where it belongs. If in a room, close the room, seal the base of the door, and call someone to find and remove it. Keeping an eye through a window does help sometimes if you are brave enough. Most snake bites occur when people try to kill a snake, and it is just defending itself, like any other animal or human would. It costs them venom (If it has venom to begin with) that they need for hunting food, and takes them considerable time to replenish that wasted venom.
Snakes are there to help control pests. Leave them alone, and they will leave you alone. Get rid of the pests (think bio friendly, rat poison can kill more than just the rat in a chain reaction effect), and the snakes have no reason to move around where you are. Keep your yard clean, and keep as much as possible off the ground. Always keep the number of your local snake catcher handy, just in case.
