Not Walter snake. Water snake.

The water was cold.



Close up.



Hint: The water is the Chobe River and is the international border between Botswana and Namibia. This snake must have preferred Botswana, as it was swimming in that direction.

Certainly looks like (to me anyhow) a puff adder who has decided to make an international move.

I agree, Puff Adder.

Armbar.

Looks like a rattler.

It's a wet-back puff Ader! Better known as an illegal immigrant crossing the river to collect his wellfare check!
..................

Looks like a "Soon-to-be-dead" snake if it gets to shore near me.

puff adder, that is the best place to see one. very visible.

Mike

Looks like a good reason to take a shotgun to Africa to me.

Puff Adder. And they're known to swim like most snakes will.

I have never seen an amphibious puffy before. I hope not to in the real world either. I know they like to hang around water areas but have never thought about the fact that they can swim. I guess because it is an arid area snake my brain just didnt even go there. Puff adders are one of the easiest to identify IMO because of the distinctive pattern. Plus the pattern is very similar to rattlers here in the USA so we are somewhat used to looking out for it.

Ah jeeze you didn't need to mention where it was AT!

I saw a black mamba not too far from this spotting......if I'm thinking of the correct area....

I'll have to make sure not to mention this additional snake sighting to the Mrs.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark T:
Ah jeeze you didn't need to mention where it was AT!

I saw a black mamba not too far from this spotting......if I'm thinking of the correct area....

I'll have to make sure not to mention this additional snake sighting to the Mrs.

Hell Mark, if that bit of news makes you uncomfortable how would you feel if I told you Vaughan and I went through 3/4 of a box of .308 shells shooting at a mamba in the tree above the staff tents just a few dozen steps from my tent?

I was just looking at another picture on the internet of a puff adder swimming and trying to take a duck, but I couldn't get the damn thing to post properly. Yes, they do swim like most snakes will do when they need to. I have personally seen rattlesnakes here in the arid West swim creeks and even had some of them come across the tops of sagebrush right at me at nearly chest level, when we've killed another one close by.

how long is that rascall? It looks to be a big one.

Yes! A swimming puff adder - in very cold water, no less.

They do look like timber rattlers, though, don't they?

I didn't know the damned things could swim (and Vaughan had never seen one swimming either)!

I would estimate that this one was nearly four feet long.

The other puff adders we have seen have been slow and lethargic. I almost stepped on one once, and would have if one of our trackers hadn't warned me.

But this guy was booking! If they gave Olympic swimming medals to snakes, this guy would've won gold!

And as for black mambas, well, we saw a six-plus footer on this trip. It was the first one we had ever seen after many trips, and it was snaking along so fast that we only saw it for a few seconds.

We let blacky - and puffy, too - go on their scaly and merry ways.

Here's one big snake that attacked us. He came to a fight with a knives and I brought a gun.


We were off to the lion bait to see if simba came back...The three hour drive was filled with sights and sounds of Africa and we were hunting our way to the bait...Our normal driver, Hamilton came down with malaria and was out of the driver's seat...So Anneli, Pierre's wife took over the driving duties and she enjoyed getting out of camp...We were about half way to the bait and on the improved road, a dirt road with which one can go safely at 20 kilometers an hour instead of the normal 5 to 10 kilometers an our..
I am in the left side of the rear bench my wife is in the middle and Pierre' is in the right side...Two trackers, Dominic and Twiga are sitting on the spare tires behind us in the same order as the names appear...All of a sudden Dominic dives behind me almost on my wife and I turn to my left to see what caused the disturbance and at the same time I hear a thud against the side of the land cruiser..
There about six feet away from me and about 2 feet off the ground I see the snake...I have a love hate relation with snakes , but this guy is huge..
A few days before I saw my first mamba at about 20 feet when tracking buf and Dominic sees it in front of him and jumps to the side...Not black as his name but greenish grey and not fat like a big rattler...But fast, fierce, and venom that makes a rattler's look like candy...
My mind is screaming mamba and close and I get it, mamba out of my mouth mamba...We are all scrambling to see if Dominic has his life cut short by minutes...The truck screeches to a halt...I am already out of my seat unconsciously have grabbed the big 450 #2 and it is open and I am dropping those big equilizers into the breech... All minds are focused..Pierre is asking in Swahili something I do not recognize, but I figured it out as "did the snake bite you"...Dominic is shaking and answering no..Pierre' is off the truck he goes around thefront and I come off my side and Twiga grabs the shooting sticks and a panga...We are all if active hunting mode to put an end to this attack..I yell the snake is about 15 feet behing the truck and 4 feet off the road.. Twiga is on my left and the snake is really pissed off he is still looking for a fight...But to be honest I came to a knife fight with a gun a real big gun... Pierre came from my right and both of us were no more then 15 feet from the snake.. I was raising the double and sighting of him where did I aim at the g--damn snake and Pierre fired a milisecond before me and the knife fight was over...
This all occured in maybe 20 seconds from start to finish..But damn a black mamba almost nine feet long, just turned my hair from grey to white...

Mike

Great story Mike! And a terrific picture to go with it!!

Yes, great story about the mamba. I'm about as close as I want to get to one!

I only know about our local snakes in the Southeastern US, but generally the ones able to swim on top of the water are venomous. Non-venomous snakes generally swim with only their head sticking out of the water.

That Puff Adder is NOT a water snake. It's a snake in water.....

Yes, I'm familiar with puff adders, but not directly. Pretty snake IMO, but I'm satisfied to see them on TV and in zoos, thank you very much.

I think all snakes are capable of swimming. I saw a black king snake near a creek and he swam across the creek to get away from me. (Head only above water.)

Puff Adder - Remember ALL snakes can swim, however not all snakes are WATER snakes...

mrlexmaus aquapuffaderrus

the second best type of snake-the soon to be deceased snake

Stephen and Bushwack, Sorry guys but you are taking us too literally. We know it is not a water snake. It was said tongue in cheek. Although I knew it was a puffy and all snakes could swim I had never thought about them swimming. Like I said you dont think about arid region snakes doing a lot of swimming.

Do snakes ever become snacks for crocodiles?
Just wondering.

He looks like just a Russel's Viper. A King Cobra would enjoy him for a snack! Now that is a BIIIG snake - 18 feet long & eyes that look even tougher than a mad buffalo! Amazing how they just swallow other cobras and vipers.

quote:

Originally posted by someoldguy:
Do snakes ever become snacks for crocodiles?
Just wondering.

Yes, they do...

Well I'm just going to name it Barry!...

Retreever:
I think I use to date the one in the picture. Nasty bitch.

I was in the Kilombero on my way to the lion blind early morning with the light just breaking. Rashidi the tracker in front with the shooting sticks, followed by Paul the PH, and then myself. I was used to seeing Rashidi jump and flick the sticks at an unseen object on the ground. This happened with regularity. I called it the "mamba shuffle". On this last morning of the hunt I saw Rashidi flick the sticks with increasing fervor and just stood still to let it pass. I was looking down and saw, three inches from my right foot, a puff adder raising it's head. I thought it prudent to vacate the area. I was more concerned with the lioness in the grass. But that's another story.


Dutch

quote:

They do look like timber rattlers, though, don't they?

I didn't know the damned things could swim (and Vaughan had never seen one swimming either)!

If you fish in the bays of the Texas Gulf Coast...it is not uncommon to see a Diamond Back Rattle Snake swimming to and fro the islands.

And some people wonder why I developed, 1 oz SHOT loads fpor mu Lott.

Keith

Jorge400,

The black Mamba we saw was trying to get on top of our tent. When I called Vaughan with a "Hey.......there's a snake in camp." I got the response "Why the hell are you calling ME!"

My wife still thinks that's a bit funny.

As much as most of us hate snakes, you do have to admit that puff adders are very pretty in their markings. They'd make great hatbands.

I'll never forget the first puff adder I saw. I was hunting with Roy Vincent in Charara, tracking buffalo, when all of a sudden Roy stopped still. I thought he saw the buffalo, but then I heard this unusual 'puffing' noise, just like a loud slow exhale. At first, I thought WTF? Then, Roy pointed with his gun barrel and said "Look there." About 4 feet away was a very big puff adder who was warning us to stay away. We poked our guns barrels at him for a bit so that I could hear him sound off some more, then left him in peace as we continued on our way.

I don't kill poisonous snakes when out hunting unless they pose a threat. If they're in camp, they get killed or if they're agressive, they get killed but otherwise I just leave them alone. I developed this attitude after that incident, as Roy told me he doesn't kill them, believing it is bad luck for his next encounter. I started leaving them alone too, and after nearly stepping on a medium sized rattler that could have easily bit me but that chose not to (I only saw him just as I was about to set my foot down on him), I've never killed another snake out in the wild unless there's a good reason to do so. I do kill every poisonous snake I see around our house or neighborhood, I got two rattlers this past year. I don't want my dog to get bit, or get a surprise when working in the garage or garden.

Mamba's, well let's just say I like to not be around them at all, but that's another story.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark T:
Jorge400,

The black Mamba we saw was trying to get on top of our tent. When I called Vaughan with a "Hey.......there's a snake in camp." I got the response "Why the hell are you calling ME!"

My wife still thinks that's a bit funny.

I think I see a patern here. When the staff told him about the mamba in the tree he sent me to try to sort it out and only showed up a good bit later.

Name the "water" snake, how about "Splash."

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
I didn't know the damned things could swim (and Vaughan had never seen one swimming either)!

All snakes can swim, as can most all wildlife, even most birds!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mike Smith:
Stephen and Bushwack, Sorry guys but you are taking us too literally QUOTE]

Mike

Not at all! I got it 1st time with the "Waltersnake' thing. I too was just kinda playing with words with my "not a water snake but a snake in water" thing. Happens when I do late night posts on a bellyfull of red wine....

A wise man told me as a young boy that the poisonous snake was the reason our good lord helped mankind invent the shotgun! And all of ya'll thought it was for shooting birds???

EZ

Sorry Stephen, It was a long one for me as well. It is hard to read the emotional intent of posts at times. Sometimes I read a post a couple of times before I get the humor of it.