Going the Selous in late Aug.early Sept. do I need snake boots or pants?

NO!

Would not consider it although we did run accross a Puff Adder in MK1.

Agreed.

No.

You need fear only the odd puff adder, and as long as you don't step on him, you'll be okay.

In fact, you may be okay even if you step on him. They are very slow and sluggish.

But if you do step on one, just be sure to step right behind his big triangular head!

More people die from lighning or falls in their own homes than snakes bites...its the largest irrational worry that people have in the bush...choking on your chicken wing is more likely to kill you.

Snakes are great and very interesting animals...
enjoy it!

tait,

I wouldn't really think that snakes would be a problem. Here is an idea though. Both my parents and I wear 17" snake boots when hunting here in Texas. For 2 reasons: for rattlesnakes but MAINLY for the thorns and cactus. I can't tell you how many prickly pear thorns I've dug out of my shins from not wearing my snake boots. However, them being snake proof does give you a little extra peace of mind when hunting in the spring and summer when the grass is so tall that you can't see your feet. My dad and I have the Cabela's Pinnacle zip-up snake boots and we LOVE them. They are very comfortable and provide great ankle support and have awesome traction. They are very light weight and easy to run in. I especially love them when I'm hunting hogs with dogs with one of my good friends and we go off running through a mile or so of rocky, brushy country. They will be nice and "broken in" for our trip to Namibia next summer. There have been several times where if I wouldn't have had them, I most definitely would have snapped my ankle from tromping around in steep areas with loose gravel and large rocks. I won't wear anything else when I'm doing a lot of stalking and just walking (or running) around in the brush. Just my $0.02.

I seeem to have more problems with scorpions. I've been stung three times and it hurts like hell. The only time I've seen more than 1 snake on a trip was an April elephant hunt when it was still hot. That's when I had scorpion trouble also.

A puff adder might be stopped by snake boots but a mamba has a tendency to strike at least testicle high, so don't forget to protect the jewels.

We have to deal with lots of snakes here.

Best advice, watch where you step and where you sit. Don't pick up anything off the ground without pushing it around with a stick first.

I'm with ElandSlayer on boots for protection from thorns. I picked plenty of cactus thorns out of my boots. Just make sure you pick out the thorns on a nightly basis. Left in cactus thorns have a nasty habit of working their way deeper and deeper into a boot. Redhead's waterproof ropers are inexpensive and comfortable. They breath so they are also pretty darn comfortable to wear in the heat.

I hunted once in the Selous for 8 days a few years ago in mid September. We managed to see several cobras an unknown number of grass snakes and two mambas. One was very aggressive and we had to sort it out with a shotgun. I have never seen a snake of any kind in Zimbabwe or South Africa which is baffling to me. At any rate I would not be the least concerned about snakes if I were to hunt the Selous again.

I hate snakes!

I love snakes

Just stay behind the tracker and the ph. If there are snakes about they will keep their eyes open for them. (check your shoes for creepy crawlies before putting them one in the morning though)

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
I hate snakes!

I'm with you. Kill 'em!!! Only good snake to me is a dead one and already decomposing.

quote:

a mamba has a tendency to strike at least testicle high

So much for sucking out the poison.

I killed 3 snakes on my safari in the Kalahari. I wouldn't say snake boots are necessary though.

Pegleg:

AMEN! I'm with you as a veteran of a copperhead bite (age 6) in these United States - but don't let it keep you away from Africa. My PH in Zimbabwe told me he had never had a client who ever so much as had ever seen a poisonous snake. One poster did have good advice about puff adders -and mambas are truly fearsome - but really, it does seem that behaving as any hunter does in snake country means that in Africa, you are far less likely to see snakes (at least in East and Southern Africa which is all I have any knowledge about)

In June, my PH said there was no problem as the snakes were hibernating. We saw one puff adder. Later, he showed me a photo of a mamba he had killed three weeks earlier. That thing was ten feet long.

Watchout for big patches of rock or concrete in the early morning.

A puff adder and a cobra on 2 seperate mornings wanted inside my room. They kept striking the glass sliding door. I had a 4 foot snake whacker to kill them with.

The other one I finished off after we drove over it. I stepped right on it as I stepped out of the truck. It was pretty whacked though by the time I killed it.

Pathfinder and gerrys375,

FYI my left boot came down 6" away from a puff adder in Zim this May. The snake died shortly there after.

I would worry more about malaria then snakes...Every night stuff boots with sox no critters inside...

Mike

the Selous in 7 days

Love them snakes too.