Rock pythons in Namibia are fairly easy to identify, and well worth watching and taking pictures of when encountered. Don't get too close tho, because they are fairly aggressive and will bite the snot out of you if given half a chance!

This is the one snake I've encountered in Africa (KZN). Can anyone identify what type of python it is?




Here's a close-up.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting For Adventure:
Had this one nearly drop in on me in a bow blind in Botswana. About crapped myself but I'm alive and he isn't. Ok, that sounded a bit Mark Sullivan-ish but it's the truth.

That kind sir would be a female boomslang.

After seeing all these, maybe I don't want to go to Africa! I'll stick to Brown Bears!

quote:

Originally posted by postoak:
This is the one snake I've encountered in Africa (KZN). Can anyone identify what type of python it is?




Here's a close-up.

African rock python

What is this one?

I saw several black manbas in tanzania and almost got taken by one . It got up behind me and the game scout opened up with his auto and killed it. The shots scared the shit out of me but when I saw what he shot and how close it was to me I almost had the big one! Too say the least the game scout got the biggest tip of the trip. I hate snakes and hope I dont see any when I go to zimb later this month.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting For Adventure:
What is this one?

Looks like the same one that you nearly decapatated with a muzzy. ;-)

Back when I bowhunted, I've hunted an afternoon with a boomslang in the overhead (I did keep an eye on him), a full day with a rather large python in the brush pile on top of the pit blind (including a rather interesting incident of a honey badger trying to come in the front window of the blind to get to the python) and have helped a rather small horned adder out of a pit blind (with sticks that seemed a bit short at the time).

I try to avoid snakes, but there's not generally a need to kill most of them. I do have a particular aversion to mambas and cobras and some of those huge ones in the pictures above give me the willies.

On another note, I've never seen a tracker that would come close, let alone touch a snake. We found a cobra killed by the Masai and my PH skinned it for a belt. You couldn't believe the chaos with the trackers and the snake was quite dead.

Not mambas, but here are couple snake pics from my African hunts.

This guy was pissed off:


This one we almost stepped on:

T-Man: Great pics. Told you rock pythons can get pissy! Where was the adder taken? Looks more like a horned adder from the Kalarari or eastern Namib.

quote:

Originally posted by Blank:
T-Man: Great pics. Told you rock pythons can get pissy! Where was the adder taken? Looks more like a horned adder from the Kalarari or eastern Namib.

Thanks. The python was in SE Zim next to Gonarezhou. The adder is indeed a horned adder from Northwest Namibia.