It is summer and the snakes are comming out of hibination. Any tips or snake encounters?

Philip A. has some good advice in this thread:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=957100067#957100067

Here is my link to a black mamba attack. It is way down the page.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...=105106725#105106725

Mike

Any one ever eaten snake?
Any close encounters?
OUr daughter was spat in the eyes by an Angolan spitting cobra from about 1m away.She said she saw the snakes nostrils. No Need to say the snake is with its Maker!

This year while in Zimbabwe, I was riding with Thierry Labat in his cruiser when out of the blue I had mentioned that we haven't seen any snakes this year and that was OK by me. Just then a Black Eagle flew over pretty low with some kind of snake in it's tallons and Thierry very calmly said "There goes one now" and never broke a smile until I said I just can't believe that. He then said I would probably be fine and don't let that snake bother me. I was shaking my head for a couple of miles.

I had one drop into my lap in an open LandCruiser back in 2001 in the Selous. Maybe he was trying to get even with me for eating a rattlesnake during SERE training in 1966 at Camp Pendleton?

i have seen lots of poisonous snakes in Africa with a few close encounters, but got bitten in my garage by a rattlesnake( spent 4 days in hospital and 8 days in bed at home). shit happens.

Not so pleasant. Shit happens when you least expect it. We spent New Year in hospital after my daught was spat in the eyes. She lost quite a bit of sight. Her eyes were extremely sensitive for long there after.

Not a dangerous encounter, but on our visit to Etosha National Park in Namibia i April, we came across a big phyton who had just killed a jackal.

The phyton laid 20 meters from the road, and we could watch the whole drama from the car.
Not allowed to step out of the car, we did not get any good photos because of the grass.

It took about twenty minutes, then the whole jackal was gone and the phyton slid away with a big bulge on its belly.

Our guide and PH who had spent his whole life in Namibia as a hunter and farmer, had never seen this in real life before.

There had been two jackals together, and the second one was jumping around the phyton for a little while yelping, then he must have realized that his partner was doomed, and trottet away

It was so intence to watch that the time stood still, and afterwards we realised that we had witnessed something very special.
(sorry for the bad pix)

reminds me of when my pet 18 foot Burmese python tried to eat my miniature Pinscher. thank God i was there to rescue the dog---man was that an ordeal getting the snake's teeth out of the poor dog without ripping up his jugular vein/carotid artery.dog never ventured near the snake again. too bad you weren't in position to get better photos- a truly once in a lifetime opportunity!

3 trips, 4 snakes. 2008 (August)Aldays Limpopo driving up to water hole a goshawk caught killed and flew into an irowood tree with a 5 - 6' ??? PH said what it was but don't remember only mildly poisonious. Next day stepped on a small one just like it. He just thrashed about trying to get away. Also, in rocks on hill near camp lived a large rock python. Saw about 8' of it and about as big around as a cantaloupe. 2009 (October)Karoo, Reit Fontaine east african spitting cobra crossed road in front of us. I tried to jump out to get a decent picture and PH would have none of that. 2010 (September)not a snake in sight again in Limpopo, Aldays and Tschipe. ( Im certain african name spelling is not exact)

FWIW my PH was bitten in the calf by a black mamba in 1996 i believe. 2 hrs to hospital and obviously lived to tell about it. Did say he was in hospital for 6 weeks and another 6 + months recovery.

some time ago we came across a python that swallowed a warthog. The tooth stuck out of his side. The guys who know said that is the only snake that does not die when injured by this type of thing. It heals over and leaves a scar!
When first in Namibia we heard that children gathered berries and left a 2 year child a few yards away. A python sized the child and attacked it. Help was too late and the child was taken by the python. When they are big they are big.

Growing up in rural Bombay, people like me quickly learnt tht snakes were good in that they kept the undesirables out of our haunts.There was very little danger to from these snakes as in all my years and thru the many snakes i caught and relocated, i never once encountered any aggression.I once had to kill a full grown cobra cause it had taken up residence in the long grass adjoining the childrens play area and a couple of boys had reported 'near misses'when fetching a ball.I had a keel back a cobra and a russels viper in an aquarium all babies,the patterns on the viper were beautiful and vivid like i had never seen before up till my sister came upon them and freaked out, my mother made me get rid of them and so i relocated them to a place i knew had plenty in way of food for the lil fellows


i once got hissed at by what i believe was a cobra hunting frogs one rainy night.

Snakes will mind thier own business mostly, and will bug out of the area once they pick up havy vibration, those buggers on tvv that molest them for to showcase thier own machismo deserve to be bit.

You are lucky. Mostly they do nothing. But sometimes one is unlucky.
We have had a few encounters but nothing that caused death. I think they are just creepy!! One thing I learnt when you see one keep an eye on it until it is out your vacinity.

No trophy fees on snakes, especially mambas...

Mike

Avoid at all costs!!!

I watched my PH in Zambia blow the head off a 7 ft Black Forest Cobra. FYI, I sat in the Cruiser...

I have caught a samll cobra with a forked stick at university hostel where it came into the quadrangle. While working in tea plantations in India I have stood on a hill near the bush line supervising the work and heard a rustle at my feet and saw a 6 foot cobra slink away from near my boots! This happened to me twice that year before I realised that the cobra was a resident who like to bask in the sun.

I suspect that Indian snakes mostly avoid people and will not attack unless provoked. Once with my dad & brother we cornered a cobra and tried to provoke it to take up its hood for some photos but it refused to cooperate. For about 20 minutes it was trying to get away form the corner and finally we let it go.

I understand that the black mamba and the Australian coastal taipan are verry aggressive snakes that attack very quickly.

5 trips to Africa. Snake count was way too high. 2 Black mambas the first year and 1 egyptian cobra. 2nd year 6 puff adders. Just about 1 per day, however none in the free state. 3rd year, 1 viper of some kind (I was running too fast to tell which one), 1 cobra of some kind. And none in Mozambique and none in Zimbabwe this year. That suited me just fine. Snakes will make me hurt myself.

Well, there was the 8 foot python that got into the outdoor shower with me at Hammond Camp, SVC two nights ago . . .

Not cool.

Nice shot!
My father-in-law once shot a mamba in the head in a tree.It fell out of the trre dead but its mouth was open and it landed with its fangs in a dog. The dog died shortly afterwards. Although the snake is dead beware of the head and especially the fangs. We burn all snakes we kill!

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
No trophy fees on snakes, especially mambas...

Mike

Avoid at all costs!!!

Seen snakes nearly every trip to Africa. Once in Namibia, early morning stepped nearly on a small stocky puff adder.
I started to poke at the snake with a stick before it got aggressive. The weather was very cold so the snake was slow to respond---which was good and likely why I wasn't bit when stepping nearly on it.

later the PH and I looked up the snake in a identification book-it was a species of Puff adders that is only (occurding to this book) found in a small area of South Africa--not Namibia.
I guess that snake never read the book.

Baobab,

Yep, the slivery nasties have most certainly been coming out in this part of the world... Have killed several of them this year and will probably have to kill more...

Not sure if mine are "good snake stories" but I have two to share...

First incident happened while we had guests over one evening... I walked past the TV when I saw movement behind it. Got the flashlight to inspect and returned just in time to see a Mozambique Spitting Cobra slithering into the Sub Woofer... Didn't want to disturb the guests and wanted to save the woofer so I turned the box upside down so the snake could not get out... Following morning after the guests had left I turned the woofer over again - hoping the snake would get out on its own - NO success... Started taking the woofer apart with the 9mm loaded with snake shot ready...As I removed the one panel I saw two eyes looking back at me. Forgot about saving the equipment, pulled the 9mm and shot the snake to pieces inside the woofer... Needless to say there is no "woof" or "ssss" left in the woofer anymore...




Second incident was quite sad...

Had a client with me hunting leopard so we were up and about checking baits most of the day... Also had a sick horse back home at the time and I got a call from my wife asking if I'd pick up medicine for him from the Vet on my way home...

But leaving the Vet en route home for lunch I saw my wife's car approaching fast from up ahead. "He's dead" she said in tears... "Where?" I asked (wondering where on the property the horse had met its end)... "In the back of the car" she replied... I was confused... how the heck did she manage to load a horse into the back of a Discovery? Then I saw Maximus - her young Rotweiller pup - lying in the back... Turned out he got bitten by a Black Mamba and died within 10 minutes... He was the apple of her eye and it tok a l_o_n_g time for her to get over it...

Chris, that first story is funny. Shoot before hit spits.
The second I can relate too. On my first safari in KwazuluNatal the family had a big friendly Rhodesian ridgeback. I love dogs. He was bit by a snake while we were there and dissapeared. They found him out in the bushes away from his bed.

Mike

I was a member of the British south Africa Police, Rhodesia. One bright Patrol Officer found a 5' cobra swimming in the pool at the single mens' quarters. He caught and took it into the kitchen where he and another idiot tried to milk it of its venom. The snake got away from them and slid under the kitchen cabinets and then up behind them. They tried everything to get it out with out success. So they left it. For about a week that thing stayed in the kitchen and every now and then put in an appearance. Almost every day an African servant would come running up to the charge office incoherent with excitement about a "nyoka" in the kitchen. Finally one day it stayed in the middle of the kitchen floor. It was hungry and angry.
A snake catcher was called and when he arrived every body trooped down to the quarters to watch the fun. The snake disappeared under the cabinets again but the snake catcher was able to hook it out. Now it was really angry and it stood up ready to strike. Suddenly 10 men wanted out and all tried to get through the door at the same time. I leave it to your imagination how funny it looked. Fortunately the snake catcher snagged and bagged that thing before anyone was hurt.

Another incident I had with a snake was when we had been tracking a suspected terrorist in the Zambezi valley. We tracked him for two days before we lost him by then we had been out for a week and were now out of food. The OC would not send a chopper to get us. This was toward the end of the Rhodesian winter and the nights were still VERY cold. The next morning we set out to rv with a pickup vehicle. The guys were so tired that we decided two of us would go and meet the vehicle then come and pickup the rest. I elected to go. I had a huge blister on my right foot so took of my boot. We were on the bush road and a weak sun was shining giving some warmth. As my barefoot was moving forward I felt a tick on my big toe. The next thing I remember was being 6 feet away looking back at a 2 foot puff adder coiled ready to strike. The hand of God was there, my barefoot had missed treading on that thing by inches.

That was Cloooose!!
Africa has always got a surprize or 2 up its sleave.
When in Europe you whatch the passers by. They all look up when walking. In Africa we look at the ground a great deal for the unexpected surprises!

I got bit by a rattlesnake in May down in Mexico. I spent three days in the hospital and was given 9 vials of antivenom. It took me two months to walk without a limp. I'm just glad it wasn't a mamba.

It has been a long time since I hae posted, but this topic is too good to let pass. Mrs. Hoover and I are in the bush with Dirk Rohrman for the first time. We are hunting gemsbuck and although we are seeing a lot of them none are the quality that either I or Dirk wants. He decides we need to move to another area. We are riding in Dirk's Lanndrover. Dirk is driving, Mrs. Hoover is riding shotgun and the tracker Manual and I are in the high seats. The morning started out chilly but as the sun rose, it became warmer and warmer. We are driving down this two track in the Namibian bush when all of a sudden Dirk lets out a word I cannot repeat here and there is a terrific thump on the door of the Landrover. To make a long story short there was a black mamba sunning himself on the two track and we ran over his tail. Needless to he was not happy and struck back. He hit the door of the Landrover so hard he put a dent in the door. That is my only experience with venomous snakes in Africa and hopefully it will be my last. I never did see the snake only the grass moving as it left. It did add a bit of excitement to an allready wonderful day.

I was working a crew of high school kids clearing brush on a boardwalk in the Okeefenokee Swamp Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. One of the kids, a young girl, came running up and said "Mr. Karl, there is a big snake and it has some people trapped." As I grabbed my radio and a broom I asked her what kind of snake is was. She replied "I don't know but it might be a rattlesnake." (There are three species of rattlers plus water moccasins, copperhead and corral snakes, all venomous, in residence).

We ran down to the boardwalk and there was a 5+ ft. Eastern diamondback rattlesnake stretched across the walkway and there were seven people on the wrong side of the snake, their car being in the parking lot on the opposite side. These folks were from New York City and had never seen a wild snake let alone one of the most deadly ones in the U.S. I walked up to the snake, pushing it with my broom, to chiding it, (referring to him as "Herman") for interfering with these folks' tour of the swamp. The snake, big and fat, finally slowly crawled off the walkway and the visitors almost knocked me off the walk running to their car. The last thing I heard them say was "We ain't NEVER comin' back HERE again." The kids got a kick out of those Yankees being scared by that little ol' snake.

My profile photo is one of two puff adders we saw on my trip to South Africa this past May. He was also named "Herman".

my sister use to be married to a "city boy" who decided since his new brothers-in-law were hunters that he would take up hunting. he got himself all outfitted to go dove hunting so we took him. within 3 minutes of getting out of the truck, i and my brother had each killed a rattlesnake. the "city boy" "walked" about 3 feet above the ground for the rest of the day.

There is very little els that gets the adrenaline going like a snake!

A friend of mine got chased by a mamba. Says he never ran so fast in his life, but it still kept coming!

Not an African story but good stupid snake story. About 20+ yrs ago I was scouting around my tree stand in the Texas Trinity River bottoms. Eyes glued to the ground lookin at tracks and scrapes. like an idiot walking backwards. When a hear rattling leaves right behind me. I turn around and there's a damn big Cottonmouth shaking his tail in the leaves, sounded just like a Rattlesnake. I pull out my .380 Colt auto and open up. All 6 shots miss from 3ft!. Snake took off I reloaded and ran after it. It turned and this time I didn't miss. Afterwards I thought WTF! I'm chasing a Cottonmouth! Dumbass. It just scared me so much I was really pissed.

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
I got bit by a rattlesnake in May down in Mexico. I spent three days in the hospital and was given 9 vials of antivenom. It took me two months to walk without a limp. I'm just glad it wasn't a mamba.

got me beat., i only got 8 vials on antivenin. and 6 weeks later i was hunting croc, sable and a few other things in the Zambezi Delta with no problems at all. if you can't be good- BE LUCKY!!

quote:

Originally posted by JabaliHunter:
A friend of mine got chased by a mamba. Says he never ran so fast in his life, but it still kept coming!

For him to have been able to relate the tale it obviously never got him