The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting So what's the damages?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I'm mostly a snakin' gal and I like to bring them back alive for venom research. But I do love hunting when I can get it, mostly deer and hogs. I won't turn down small game either, it's all tasty and I'm a good field butcher and cook. Hunting in Africa sounds like a remarkable amount of fun, especially in a snakey area where I might get to indulge my other great love in life. How much does the average safari cost, inclusive of plane tickets and lodging and other fees? And how common is it to see snakes on these hunts? I'm looking specifically for cobras and mambas. | ||
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Are your REAL? LOL You sound to good to be true. I'll bet you'll have a dozen hunting dates within 30 posts. | |||
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Yeah, I'm for real. My website is www.snakegetters.com if you want a peek at what I do for fun and profit. I am getting a bit tired of chasing North American vipers and would really love to meet and greet some of my favorite elapid species in the wild. Africa is high on my list to play with mambas and cobras and Gaboons and puff adders and rhino vipers, closely followed by Asia for king cobras. What I need to know is whether I can realistically afford a safari. I was planning to go on a herping trip with some other snake collectors to Africa, but that fell through, and I don't think I would have had a chance to do any other hunting while I was there. So now I'm looking at the cost of hunting safaris that would allow me to do some medium sized game shooting as well as live snake captures. I don't trust my abilities with guns well enough to go after big game or dangerous game. I'm a pretty rotten shot and I really have the most fun doing the butchering and taxidermy and gourmet game cooking part. | |||
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I saw a boatload of snakes on my first Safari in South Africa's Limpopo Province near Phalaborwa. LOTS of Black Mamba's there. In fact, I was watching O'Shea one night on the discovery channel and one of his guys got tagged by a Mamba in this very area doing venom research (went to the Phalaborwa hospital as I recall). He made it but it was close. One can put together a 7 day safari for around $300-$350USDper day plus trophy fees in this area. When I was there two years ago, trophy fees ranged from $250USD for a warthog or duiker up to $750USD for a zebra or kudu. Aside from any side trips you might want to take before or after your safari, these would be the only initial costs (exclusive of airfare which will probably run about $1400USD). Taxidermy and shipping of trophies back home add to the costs but these costs are incurred months later. If I can help at all, let me know. Best, JohnTheGreek | |||
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Truth is, a lot of African PH operations downplay snakes for fear of scaring clients off. I've encounted one cobra and one puff adder. One of the areas I hunt in Namibia has quite a few black mambas but don't advertise it. As for costs, you will have to pay the daily rate. And without trophy fees, going on a snake look isn't going to be a profitable time for most PH's. | |||
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Quote: Very nifty, thank you for sharing the photo! This snake is a colubrid, possibly a Philothamnus, but I'm not sure as I am not an expert on the colubrids by any means. It is definitely not one of the medically significant venomous species, though there is some chance that it is a rear-fanged colubrid with a mild toxin. | |||
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Quote: I can understand why. I am personally more fond of green mambas than black mambas, but either will do quite nicely. Cobras and puff adders are welcome also. The one thing I don't want to do is spend a lot of money to wander around in the bushes for days and not find any snakes. Quote: I have no great interest in trophies, except for live venomous snakes if I can make suitable arrangements with an exporter. But I would pay to be guided to the snake areas. If I could shoot a few creatures suitable for gourmet game cooking while I was there, it would be a great bonus. Is there any reasonable way to ship frozen game meat back to the States? Or dried and preserved meat? I imagine shipping on the frozen stuff would be quite expensive, and there may be legal issues? | |||
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Quote: USDA is going to have a big problem with this. One can't even bring biltong (jerky) back. If one is more interested in the African game meat than the hunt, Texas has its share of exotic critters. I believe one can still shoot an Eland on Camp Cooley Ranch in Texas for around $800. Eland is the best meat you will ever eat. JMHO, JohnTheGreek | |||
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That guy in the photo loose most of his finger from a snake bite? I'm sure there are guys that specialize in snake capture, especially in South Africa. I think my wife and daughter visited such a place near Phalabora (sp?). Don't know the best way to contact them, but you may be barking up the wrong tree around here. Most of the mambas I have seen were zooming about a zillion miles an hour. NO THANKS.  | |||
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Quote: Oh, fudge. As tasty as that sounds, I have already caught all the venomous snakes in Texas so another expedition there would be of limited amusement value. I guess I'll settle for sampling the game meats when I'm actually in Africa, if I can get a trip together for a not too unreasonable price. What does plane fare usually run? I'm in Orlando, Florida if that matters. Thanks everyone for the input! Much appreciated. | |||
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Quote: Which photo? The one currently on the front page of my site? Yes, that's a friend of mine who has been milking snakes for about fifty years. He has a few scars to show for it. My own hands are intact, but I can't easily take photos of myself milking a snake as it's usually a two handed job. If you want to see my hand it's here: http://www.snakegetters.com/demo/bmambagrip3.jpg And yes, I need a manicure badly. LOL As I recall, the rest of the mamba was tucked under my arm so I managed to snap this photo down at my own hand. Quote: Yeah, they're kind of fast moving. I'd be using tongs and a bagstick to catch them. The endless frustration of a herpetologist is constantly listening to people swear that they were aggressively approached and chased by a snake. Of course as soon as the herpetologist is taken to the area where snakes supposedly chase people, we are the ones who always have to do the chasing because the snakes run away at top speed. Very annoying. I would be positively delighted if a snake would chase me and save me the work of pursuit, but it generally doesn't work that way. | |||
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Fortunately, I managed to avoid being chased. My PH and I accidentally whacked a big mamba with the bumper of the landcruiser. Absolutely certain it had been run over as well, we got out to measure him. I got to the back of the vehicle in time to see the last three feet of him quickly disappear into the grass off the road. YIKES! We both made a hasty retreat back into the truck!  JohnTheGreek | |||
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John the Greek, Perhaps she could go in the off-season, hunting-wise. I imagine the snakes are active when it's hotter, they sure are in my part of Idaho. If a PH wasn't doing any hunting trips anyway, he might be more interested in chasing Jake no shoulders. Tanith, If you want to bag a few critters the first step is to pick up a medium bore rifle that fits you well. A 270 Winchester, 308, or 30-06 would all be fine. Have a gunsmith whack the ass end off the stock, and build up the comb until it fits perfectly. Then get some good quality instruction. All the virile young direct descendants of Daniel Boone that are hanging out at the range will volunteer to help. Tell them to bugger off. Find some crabby old target shooter who will teach you the fundamentals of good marksmanship. Then practice. It is better to shoot ten rounds on each of five trips, than fifty rounds on one trip. Women generally turn into better shots than men for a whole host of sociological (they actually listen to instruction) and genetic (men develop a natural fine tremor as they age) reasons. Go for a whole month instead of just 10-14 days. Hunt for a week, then follow up on all the snake leads. Some of the African based physicians on this forum should be able to help you find fellow snake chasers. Flights to RSA originate in Atlanta, so being in Florida is a help there. You will also need to know the difference between a fairy tail and a hunting story. Fairy tails start out "Once upon a time......"; hunting stories start out "This ain't no shit, there I was under the blazing sun...." JCN | |||
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You can get rates of around 150 a day if you shop around and add on as much as you like for trophy fees. I am sure you can come to an arrangement about the snake hunting, I doubt they can charge a full daily rate just to follow you around the bush...remember there is a lot of competition in the safari market, especially in RSA so always ask for late season offers and discounts etc. | |||
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Boghossian gave you some very good advice. Yes there is a lot of competition out there for clients. And a client like yourself would fit in very nicely into the bigger plan. It is quite true that Hunting Outfitters play down the role or abundance of snakes in an effort not to scare off potential clients. In all honesty I can say that in my 22 years as a Professional Hunter, while actually hunting with a cleint(s), I have seen one very slow puffadder and one very docile python. Maybe I just know how to avoid bad areas? But mostly I hunt in our winter months when snakes are, well less active and less likely to be seen. A walkabout in summer at some of my hunting concessions will very likely get a snake encounter. In summer I am less likely to have hunting clients, and will then consider a lower than normal daily rate. If you would cook some of the meat that you shoot, well the daily rate could be even lower? I could also get you in contact with Dr Slang (Snake) Viljoen, a noted game bird biologist and snake catcher for many years. I could become quite serious and make you an offer for a few days hunting (basically to get the meat for camp) then a few days snaking in some of the better snake areas of our country. Add to this the fact that I've got a young GSP bitch that would rather search for snakes than for birds.....(Incidentally she has just fully recovered from a puff adder bite on the jaw). You and I could do business?  Please send me a PM with broad outline of dates and so forth.Verewaaier. | |||
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Your best bet is to go along with another hunter as an "observer", that's generally half price or less, typically $150 per day. The outfitter will be delighted that you will have something to occupy your time, so he doesn't have to baby-sit you. But I am sure he will make you sign a cast-iron release, as the antivenin for those snakes you mentioned is not found in every farm refrigerator, not even in every hospital! Then, if you are half as fascinating in real life as you are online, I am sure he will let you shoot an impala or a warthog for the trophy fee. A couple of caveats: In my many years of hunting, I have encountered only 1 black mamba...but if you know just where to look you will find them. Also, please check regarding export of live snakes. I don't think this is straightforward, if legal at all. Suggest you get in touch with the Parks Board in the province you will be hunting, as well as with US F&G people. One final thought, you might find someone on a snake-lover internet bulletin board in SA who will be happy to have you join him/her digging up snakes and not charge you a cent, other than your share of transportation and lodging costs. I do know of one guy who formerly ran a snake park outside Jo'burg. If you email me I will try to dig up a phone number for you. Of course, if this is a spoof, then it's a pretty good one! | |||
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Thanks for all the good advice - I'll take it carefully under consideration. Especially what JCN said. I do have a 30-06 but am currently not any good at using it under circumstances less favorable than shooting a deer from a baited blind. I need to spend more time practicing, but my life is a bit hectic and so far I haven't gotten around to booking nearly as much time at a shooting range as I would like to. I can't speak much about the wildlife management programs in Africa, but I have always been a great respecter of conservation management here in North America and I've never shot anything I didn't really want to eat. I think it would bother me to shoot a large animal that I was not going to butcher out. Wasting meat is something I seem to be constitutionally incapable of doing, as it has been drilled into me since childhood that good hunters don't do that. So I'll probably limit my personal hunting to the smaller antelope worthy of culinary attention. Any suggestions? If I go out with any groups who are shooting larger targets, perhaps I might bring my ice chest and butcher knives and do a quick job on salvaging the best parts of those carcasses for a good game dinner? There are some SA wines worthy of note, and I'm thinking fondly about adapting my vanilla-Merlot-blackberry sauce with fennel and onions to some African antelope dishes with other native ingredients. Yum. | |||
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Quote: First thing I thought of, too... but I think the "snake thing" would be a major barrier. Maybe you guys are much more accepting. (I'm still trying to figure out marriages like that between Arnie and Maria Shriver.) Tanith: Ann once told me that the hot months are the best for "snaking" (?)... which is, I guess, why a lot of folks (to include myself) prefer going in the cooler months. Ann, are you off on your Idaho bear hunt? You and this snake dame need to link up. You can just while away the hours on the phone talking hunting and snakes.  Russ | |||
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Quote: Not being a cast iron idiot, I stock my own antivenom and will be bringing it along. SAIMR polyvalent covers all of the South African species, and since a lot of those species are already in my collection there is plenty of SAIMR in my refrigerator. That's an excellent idea, going along as an observer. To be quite honest, I'd be perfectly happy not personally taking any shots at all. I'm a lousy shot and would probably miss. Just let me at the carcasses with my ice chest and butcher knives and get ready for some gourmet game cooking. Quote: I know that there are legal channels of export, because I am already involved on the import end here in Florida. I buy freshly imported African snakes for venom research projects. I also help the importers with veterinary care for the venomous snakes that are injured in capture. Mambas and Gaboon vipers are the two most frequent human inflicted trauma injury cases, and we've gotten quite good at patching them back together in the vet clinic after idiots have used excessive force in capturing them. Click here if you want to see the slide show: http://www.snakegetters.com/rescue.html I have no trouble obtaining South African snakes through the usual import channels, but these snakes have been through Hell to get there. They are not in good condition as a rule. It is obvious they have been mishandled by idiots who are deathly afraid of them and have no business working with these species at all. Therefore I would prefer to catch my own specimens in a gentle manner that does not damage them. Putting a wire noose on a Gaboon viper is nothing short of abusive, since they will enter a bag quietly and willingly after just a bit of maneuvering with a snake hook. But looking at the characteristic pattern of injury on these import specimens, it's fairly obvious that this is how they are being caught - and dragged. Mambas also show a pattern of noose injury, crude defanging injuries and occasionally spear holes. This doesn't make me happy to see at all. It's enough to motivate me to get my own self over to Africa, catch my snakes properly, and maybe get a chance to have a little discussion with the people who are constantly sending me abused, dying animals with festering wounds and ruined mouths. Quote: That was the original plan, and I will certainly try to find some other contacts that don't flake out on me. But I thought that hooking up with some experienced hunters would be a good thing as well, since not all snake people are game hunters and vice versa. Quote: No spoof. Why would you think so? Girls aren't supposed to work in venom research? | |||
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Quote: Er, yes, my social life does tend to suffer. My collection of venomous snakes is a non negotiable point, which means that anyone choosing to live with me would also be moving in with assorted cobras, mambas, vipers and boomslangs. They are very nice animals and they are kept securely under lock and key in professional quality caging. But this is still enough to discourage most people from doing much socializing. | |||
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I don't think the PHs play the snake thing down at all, and if they do its certainly justified...I have been all over Africa as much or more than most and I have had very few encounters with snakes... I got chased by a Black Mamba one time, and that wasn't even a race or I choked him down with heel dust, the PH at that time damn near shot me to save me     I have seen a couple of corbras and about 3 or 4 mambas of one kind or another in the last 15 years...the rest were Python and non dangerous snakes, and not in abundance... More concerned about Hippo, buffalo and Crocs in that order, but not much concern their either. | |||
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Tanith, I think we have seen only a couple of puff adders in our hunts, but then most hunting is done in local winter (and either side of it). Even in September and early October they aren't usually "out" in Southern Africa. I expect for your snake hunting you will want to go over more towards the summer than we usually hunt, but the folks you are hunting with can advise on local conditions. By the way the local garden snake in Harare, Zimbabwe is the Egyptian cobra according to a snake rescue guy I talked to there. He and his group are averaging about 400 relocations per summer. jim dodd | |||
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Tanith, How much does a vial of plain old North American pit viper anti-venom cost. My practice is in the second poorest county in Idaho and I can't afford to buy the stuff from the major medical distributors. Can you recommend a source. Thanks, JCN | |||
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Quote: There are currently two manufacturers of North American antivenom and they both suck. What you really want is the Bioclon product out of Mexico. It is fully effective versus the North American vipers, cheaper and has less nasty side effects than either CroFab or Wyeth. All of my zookeeper friends are currently stocking Bioclon and refusing the North American products. Here's another trick for people on a budget. The Fort Dodge/Wyeth veterinary antivenom product is the same stuff as the human product, only cheaper. I'm not even sure the packaging is different. Wyeth has some evil side effects, but it's effective. I am not sure that the human version is still for sale. Fort Dodge seems to have taken over this product, so you might want to check with them. CroFab is the new ovine serum. Very expensive ($800 or so wholesale last I looked) and has big, big problems with recurrent coagulopathy so that you tend to need an unholy number of vials. 50 isn't uncommon. It's miserable weak stuff. No side effects, other than your WBC going wonky again pretty quick so that you need more vials. Rumor has it that they are producing a veterinary product which will eliminate the affinity purification step which was supposed to further purify the product and which actually seems to seriously weaken the product. If this is true, I will be buying the veterinary formulation in preference to the overly purified and consequently near useless human formulation. North American antivenom is in a really embarrassing state. As a private citizen, I have lots of options including using the Mexican product or veterinary products if my research tells me they are safer and more effective. As a medical doctor, I think your hands are tied. I'm sorry. Try for legally expired antivenom from other hospitals - that might be a loophole. The legal expiration date and the scientific expiration date are two completely different things. Dr. Sherman Minton tested some very old antivenoms (20-30 years old) that had been poorly stored at warm room temperature and found 80% efficacy. Properly refrigerated antivenom may have a near infinite shelf life if it is lyophilized or if it is liquid and has not precipitated. I would certainly trust it 5 years beyond the stated shelf life. This is what I advise veterinarians during antivenom shortages. You may find this article helpful, but as I said, the current formulation of CroFab is a bit lacking thanks to the affinity purification gel column they're still running. http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/171 | |||
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Quote: I have always wondered what would happen if I moved away from a snake's bluff charge. I just stand there with a snake hook, and they generally stop short of me in a big bad threat display because their bluff isn't working and that scares them. The only snakes I normally need to deflect off of me with the hook are cobras, and their aim is lousy anyhow. Black mambas always stop short in my experience, and then they sheer off and dive for the nearest thing to climb or the nearest bit of heavy furniture to duck under. I find this inconvenient, so I nab them by the tail as they turn. They don't like this at all and respond by hooding (yes, they have cute little hoods), hissing and striking. They do have good aim, so I keep them off balance and keep the head pulled away from me with the hook. Next time I'm working a freshly caught black mamba I'll try obliging it by backing off a charge to see what happens. Maybe they would follow for a bit to run the big scary intruder off. The mambas I got in a few months ago are already calm enough to ignore humans and to accept food handed to them on short forceps while I sit or stand a few feet away. They learn fairly quickly that charging or threatening a person is completely useless behavior, so they stop doing it. I would not bet that a black mamba would not deliver a nip if it got into range with its charge and the target was fleeing rather than standing and threatening. And they are quite fast over short distances, so being rather short legged I have never considered it a good move to run away from one. I don't know what I would suggest to a hunter in this situation however. If you have a good head start, running would work. If it's right up on you and you can't outrun it, I think you have a very good chance of making it turn by facing it down especially if you are able to forcefully present it with something right in its face, like a stick or an umbrella or even your boot. Mamba fangs are tiny and they aren't chewers like cobras. So presenting your boot or large hat might actually work. Note that I say presenting, not kicking with such force that the injured snake goes into "mortal combat" mode rather than backing down. I've controlled cobras with my baseball cap; it's a useful tool to get them to hood and stand at the visual stimulus when you wave it, and then to stop a charge when you push it forward at them. I'd be less happy about using a small baseball cap with a mamba because unlike cobras, their vision and their aim is good enough that they could probably see and distinguish my hand holding the cap. I use a paper towel on forceps to get the same behavioral results with mambas, but in an emergency situation a large hat or an ordinary towel flapped at the creature would probably do. Mambas are cautious biters in my experience and they don't normally bite what is shoved in their face before having a chance to evaluate it. So I use tactics with them than I don't use on the eager biters, like tapping with a hook to stop a charge, or presenting them with the paper towel on forceps to stimulate a defensive display for film or photography purposes. The eager biters will chew on the equipment and then I have to catch them and check their mouths for damage. That's no fun, so I'm a lot more careful with the eager biters (like rattlesnakes) that will tear up their own mouths that way. Quote: Large mammals scare me because I have no real experience with them, but I've worked some with crocodilians and they also have some neat little behavioral tricks that make them reasonably manageable. | |||
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Quote: Let's just say that hardly any of the girls I know are into hunting. Even fewer into snakes. Combine that with butchering freshly killed game and you get down to a pretty miniscule subset of women. Like one, maybe? | |||
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At least two Russ. My niece always helps me butcher game when we hunt together. She's not into snakes particularly, but will follow one around to see what it is doing and where it is going. JCN | |||
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OK, so I'm weird. But I don't think I'm entirely alone. One of my hunting buddies in my younger years was a very cool lady who owns way more guns than me and is a much better shot than me. She isn't really big into snakes, but she was a very good sport when I went out visiting her in Arizona a few years ago and needed to stash a lockbox full of buzzworms in an air conditioned house for a few days. I would not let anyone else butcher my game, because I am a picky gourmet cook. I know exactly how I want my cuts made. I do some nonstandard cuts and I like to plan things as I go. A butcher can't really do that for me, and besides, I suspect some game butchers of keeping parts for themselves. When I field dress game I am also performing a basic necropsy, checking for parasites and conditions that might affect the edibility of the meat. Again not really something I trust anyone else to do for me. Plus if you shoot something and don't field dress it quick, it tends to get nasty. So I'm not sure how anyone can hunt and not also butcher, at least to the extent of basic field dressing. | |||
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Have you done any research with Bruno (Italian last name) who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica? I met him on several visits, very knowledgeable in the field of anti venom research - lots of snakes in CR, the bushmaster is one bad dude - KMule | |||
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Quote: I have not personally visited Costa Rica, but a gentleman I work with has very extensive connections there (his wife is a native) and he travels there regularly. He also entertains visitors from that area at his Serpentarium, and consequently I've met a number of people from CR who are in venom research. One of them may well be the fellow you've mentioned. But I don't recall specifically. Lachesis muta is an impressive snake to be sure. They command large sums from collectors in this country (about $2k per snake), so I have rarely had the chance to work with them and I don't own any personally. CR doesn't want people exporting them either. *sigh* The captive specimens I have handled have been fat and happy creatures who did not object to people at all, but I'm sure they're a bit sprightlier in the wild. I have no great interest in hunting Costa Rica because of the difficulty getting export permits for snakes. I would be in terrible mental agony if I caught some beautiful bushmasters and had to choose between leaving them behind and attempting to smuggle them out. It would absolutely kill me to leave them behind, and it would get me into way too much trouble to try to take them with me. So I would rather not put myself in that situation at all. I know I can get snakes legally out of Africa, so I'd much rather hunt there. | |||
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Do you think it is worth it for ranches to keep antivenom? I don't think I have seen any in the bush camps...even if the chances are slim, they should keep some of the stuff around....nearest hospital (african hospital) being at least a few hours away... | |||
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Quote: Definitely yes, especially considering SAIMR polyvalent is fairly cheap (about $35 to $40 US per vial) and it covers all of the South African species. Don't administer it in the field if you can help it however; anaphylaxis is a reasonably common occurrence with this product, and it is only fractionally effective when used as an intramuscular injection as opposed to in an IV drip. Do also train hunters and guides in the proper pressure immobilization technique. The Australian government has published some excellent guidelines on PI, because in that country also people may be bitten by neurotoxic snakes in the outback and may not be able to get to medical help for some hours. Tell them to always use PI on bites from skinny snakes (elapids, boomslangs and twig snakes). Bites from fat thick snakes (vipers) mean that delaying the symptoms with PI might cause the loss of that limb. If those symptoms could be rapidly fatal without medical help, as they certainly can be with the big Gaboon vipers, large puff adders and rhino vipers, then it may be a worthwhile trade. For a smaller viper and/or a shorter distance to medical help, it might not be a good trade. Unfortunately some of the skinny snakes have cytotoxic as well as neurotoxic components to their venom, causing increased localized tissue damage on PI. Only an expert is going to be able to conclusively ID the snake and make a really well informed decision on the spot as to whether PI is justified. Even the experts in this field with multiple degrees can't always agree; the debate is always very lively on this subject on the toxicology forums. The one thing that can't be argued is if the hospital is many hours away and the victim is showing a rapid onset of any symptoms at all (swelling, site discoloration, ptosis, cyanosis, fasciculations, etc, within 15 to 20 minutes) PI and increased localized tissue damage is better than the patient not making it to the hospital. Also if the patient is by him or herself and needs to walk out to medical care, PI is better than not being able to make the walk out if the snake is suspected of having neurotoxic or myotoxic (paralytic) venom. It's actually fairly hard to get bitten by a snake unless you've stepped on it or right up next to it, reached for it with bare hands or bothered it on purpose. Hunters are at some risk because they go poking and stepping around wilderness places where snakes live, so they may well come crashing down right in some poor snake's bedroom and elicit a defensive response. This can be largely mitigated by wearing proper boots and tapping/waving about ahead of you with a stick when you go into tall grass. Scientists actually thought that boomslangs were harmless for many years, because they simply did not bite people in the wild. Finally a herpetologist poked and prodded one past its tolerance and was bitten. He died, but that's what it took to figure out that these snakes actually had any venom worth studying. | |||
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Snakegetters, you are certainly not alone! I bred venomous for years, mostly the Australian stuff, with a few African, Americans and Aisians mixed in. If you are into elapids, you can't go past the great sunburt land of Australia, a trip there will cost you a lot less, and if you are after information I don't know if I can guide you but I can certainly give you enough information to be able to get a whole lot done on your own. As for export, from Australia, forget it. Africa - I remember a friend who used to organize export form the Central African Republic. If your heart is set of Africa, then RSA might be good. I hunted there 10 years ago next to a reptile park, with a young bloke who was into catching snakes. We didn't manage much for a trip, two Mozambique spitters(Naja mossambica) night adder(causus rhombeatus), 2 puff adders (B.arietans) Mole viper, (Atractaspis bibroni)one big ol' sebae and some of those little green colubrids you described as Philothamnus irregularis. In Australia you should see at least that much per night. I picked up 11 desert death adders(acantophis pyrrhus) on one night, and they are supposed to be rare! Sometimes if you count all the little stuff like the simoselaps and ant eating snakes, saurians you can come up with 100 reptiles in a night! If you want to know more, PM me and I'll give you some info about what you could expect to find and where. | |||
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OR another thing you can do is book with a lodge as a guest and shoot a couple of non-trophy cull animals....the meat is better, you'll have more chances if you miss/blow a shot and the damage to your pocketbook is very much reduced! | |||
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In Africa, one of the things you pay for is the skinning of your game. Very few hunters do this themselves, as caping is a little trickier than your basic skinning. You can, if you like, and I venture to say you will be popular with the crew if you do. In almost every case, the operator/landowner takes the meat for his account (it's legal to sell game meat in most African countries), so there is no incentive for the hunter to butcher anything. It's usually done while the hunter continues his hunt, or is sitting around the fire enjoying a beer and some snacks. Some of this meat is fed back to the visiting hunter, but the vast majority is shipped off in a refrigerated truck to the nearest town. In the boondocks, the locals appear and traditionally they get whatever the camp doesn't need. There's no way to keep meat fresh in a bush camp. You can dry it of course. | |||
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Quote: Ooooh, nifty. I am breeding king cobras this year (see the "buying a puff adder" thread for details), several types of copperheads, Chinese vipers (Gloydius blomhoffi siniticus), cottonmouths, Eastern green mambas and hopefully I can get a male for my magnificent melanistic female boomslang that I raised from the egg. She's at about the right size and age to breed finally this year, I just need a boyfriend for her. Quote: I love elapids, but it would absolutely kill me to go catch beautiful venomous snakes and not get to keep any. Quote: Were the mossambica nice and red? I've seen some near fire engine red specimens imported to this country, and I was tempted except for the problem of allergy exposure with spitters. What color phase were the puffs? Have you seen the bright orange Cape puffs? I like Atracaspis and have kept several species including bibroni. I milk them using a short tube to sheath the neck, avoiding the side snapping fangs. They are cute when they take a pinky mouse from forceps using that side snap. Was I right about the Philothamnus identification? I am really no expert on the African colubrids, I only see them now and then incidentally as part of an export lot that I'm picking through. Quote: *sob* I only have A. antarcticus, the PNG death adder. I can't get pyrrhus in the States. I can sometimes get praelongus, but I really want pyrrhus. | |||
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My idea of a really good souvenier of my African adventure would of course be a nice export load of live venomous snakes. That's the first priority. I would not mind a very small home tanned skin and maybe a little duiker horn on a keyring as a reminder of the good time I had in shooting, cooking and eating it. I really prefer to do my own butchering and skinning and I can do my own tanning as well. But that is the limit of my personal ambition for trophies. Shooting a cull animal or a non trophy type animal would be fine with me. I am glad to hear that the meat is not wasted. How much does it cost to shoot small game like a duiker or...er...whatever the equivalent is in Africa of jackrabbits and squirrels? | |||
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I like to carry (and my PH's as well) plain old cortisone. It slows the poison down and many folks are alergic to SAIMR. Anaphalaxis can also be slowed down if the cortisone is injected before the antivenin. Black mambas generally reqiire a minimum of 6-8 ampoules, and it's very hard to carry that much in the field. 2 amps of cortisone followed by 2 amps of antivenin will generally give you plenty of time (in RSA) to get to a hospital. Antihistamine is really important in the general kit for allergic and mild anaphalactic reactions as well. Hunting camps in Tanz, Moz, Bots and some areas of Mugabeland probably should keep a pretty comprehensive kit on hand, but in RSA, a general and basic kit normally does fine. You must remember that 80% of the hunting in RSA happens during the cold winter months there, and money can be very tight for some of the old farmers running these lodges. | |||
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