Puff Adder… Africa’s deadliest. (Well I think so)….

Any where from below the equator in Africa, you can find the Puff Adder. A deadly snake that can reach 1.2 m or 4 ft. long, a body girth of 30 cm or a ft. and fangs the size of sewing needles just a lot thicker.

It will lie quietly next to a pathway and when you virtually stand on it, bite you on the ankle… not that it was waiting for you, it was waiting for its prey. Will it get out of your way? No.

This species is responsible for more fatalities than any other African snake. This is due to a combination of factors, including its wide distribution, common occurrence, large size, potent venom that is produced in large amounts, long fangs, their habit of basking by footpaths and sitting quietly when approached.

The venom has cytotoxic effects and is one of the most toxic of any vipers. Cytotoxic, kills cells. Venom yield is typically between 100–350 mg, with a maximum of 750 mg. About 100 mg is thought to be enough to kill a healthy adult human male, with death occurring after 25 hours. A painful death I’m told…

So my recommendation is … stay away from the blunt end of this footless killer… I have caught many and relocated them, but I have probably killed just as many for frightening the becheeeezes out of me…

At the show….

Well camouflaged in the grass….

But I thought I’d show you some captures I’d made before of one I could get up close to…

Angry looking snake… she is talking to me … “Come closer, I want to bite you Bulldog” I was very close, but because of the way she lay on the tarmac she could not have struck at me without first moving her head and coiling her body… How do I know she is a she?? The female has a shorter tail than the male…

Snouted Cobra… Not to be taken lightly…

Yesterday I mentioned the show I went to with the Grandkids and wives who were being treated to a Mothers day special. Below… Grandson and the Bulldog…

Apart from the snakes (which Linda would not watch, she won’t even look at a comic book snake) we had Nianell entertaining us… before this she was not a favourite of mine, her sister Riana Nel is, but after listening to her, I am a fan… boy has she got a good set of pipes on her (talking about her voice), is it possible to have two such magnificent voices in one family.???

But this post is about a snouted Cobra….

Snouted cobras inhabit arid and moist savannah, particularly in bushveld and lowveld areas. As a large cobra, it often has a permanent home base or lair in an abandoned termite mound, where it will reside for years if left undisturbed.

It is a nocturnal species, foraging for food from dusk onwards. It enjoys basking in the sun during the day near its lair or retreat. This species can be quite nervous and will strike to defend itself if threatened.

Like other cobras, when disturbed, it usually raises the front-third of its body when extending its hood and hissing. The hood raising is actually a request for you to leave and let it slip off quietly, although threatening in nature, it would rather escape from you than confront you.

Most of the time it has either seen or felt you coming and escaped down its hole, but if surprised it will ask you nicely to step back, the hissing sound you hear is it actually asking you to leave it alone and it will rush off… (I know and understand snake language, the snake whisper taught me)

Love the photo above… means its going away from me…

Quite the beauty… by the way most snake language as interpreted by me is “Get the hell out of here or I’ll bite you” they don’t have a big vocabulary…