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From: Nitro (Original Message) Sent: 11/7/2002 11:01 PM
Damn there' a lot of snakes around this Spring/Summer.

We saw two brown snakes on Wednesday.

I saw one two metres away yesterday. It slithered out from under a tree in the yard which it wanted to cross. Lifted its head a few inches and then spotted me and returned into the debris under the tree. I was sitting quietly waiting for a water tank to fill up. Got the 22 Magnum out of the tractor cabin and tried to spot it and instead a car came walking out. It had been sleeping under there as well.

And my dog wouldn't go into one shed this morning and was acting like he could see a snake and was jumpy for the rest of the day.

That's spotting 3 in 3 days. Sometimes we go for a whole summer and see only 3 (though we will see tracks in the sand more often). And they are all in a 25 metre radius of the house!

The Australian Brown snake for those that don't know is one of the 5 most poisonous snakes in the world. Ugly creatures.

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From: Nitro Sent: 11/7/2002 11:07 PM
PS My brother-in-law's niece was bitten by one a week ago and even my parent's found one in their back yard in town yesterday.

I think it is the drought. Normally with wetter weather in Spring you have mice and rats breeding up, but being dry this year there is less so the snakes are out and about hunting.

Plus Spring is their breeding season, and during this time they can be aggressive.

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From: Honey badger Sent: 11/8/2002 10:38 AM
I was on a Game Ranger course in South Africa at the start of this year. The poor instructors had a million and one things to teach us. Plants, trees, insects, reptiles, birds, plus general ecology, biology & zoology etc. All this in a Big Five area. So you can probably imagine that snakes were not the first thing on my mind.

One morning, just as we were returning from a game walk, Seena, our cook, was screaming and pressing a palm to her eye. It transpired that a snake (I wish I could remember the species - there are only a few that do this) spat venom into her eye. Bruce, one of the instrucors, and Shona, his wife, administered quick and effective first aid then took her to the hospital in Hoedspruit. She came back little worse for te experience the same day, but we learnt to respct the snakes that, until then, we had either ignored or treated as objects of ridicule. I think we know better now.

I would appreciate it if perhaps one of our more knowledgeable members could remind me of the snake species concerned.

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From: Bigfive Sent: 11/8/2002 4:08 PM
Hi there Honey Badger,
The only snake that I know of here in South Africa that will spit for the eyes is the Rinkhals(also known as a Spitting Cobra but this is'nt totally correct).When it stands in the defencive attitude or aggresive attitude the head will flatten out to look bigger.This is normal in all cobra species and some other species of snakes as well.The name Rinkhals is the correct English and Afrikaans name for this snake."Rink" meaning ring and "Hals" meaning front of the neck or throat.To distinguish this one from the others you'll see a clear white to yellow ring/band/stripe in the front of the throat and this is also where it's name comes from.These snakes have and all your other cobra species have neurotoxic venom that attack your nervous system.They are deadly.
Now to the bit of spitting for the eyes.This is actually a mith that the rinkhals can spit you right in the eyes.The snake can't or doesn't aim for the eyes.In fact the snake can't even see your eyes.They spit for the highest moving part wich will be you head so a lot of times the venom will get into your eyes.This is only there defence mechacnism and they only do this when they feel they in danger.
The best thing to do here is to rinse the eyes with water for about 10-15min and get the victim to the doctor.
This snakes is common throughout the northern half of South-Africa and they appear alot in the cities and towns.This case I think the snake was in the building or near a door opening and the sudden appearence of a human made it go into defence.
You are very likely to get them in and around the house or camp.

Hope this is if any good good for you
Regards
Bigfive

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From: Honey badger Sent: 11/8/2002 7:48 PM
Hi BF

Rinkhals sounds right. If I remember rightly it doesn't spit in the way we do, but draws the venom into a channel in the fangs, then throws its head up, thus propelling the nasty stuff. And you were spot on with the location - the snake was in the corner of the kitchen hut and I think Seena was stood in or near the doorway.

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From: Nitro Sent: 11/9/2002 1:20 AM
Friday - Day 4 and guess what - another bloody one - 4 in 4 days now. Lucky they are running (or slithering) away rather than spitting and attacking like those African specimens.

I think this is a good case to be licensed to carry a 357 loaded with shot cartridges. Except these rodent eaters are officially protected. Damn.

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Honey Badger

You intrigue me. Tell us about your Game Ranger course in South Africa. That sounds very interesting.

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From: Safari-Hunt Sent: 11/14/2002 2:06 AM
BIg Five,

There is anothe spitting snake in RSA and it is a true cobra Mozambique spitting Cobra just to add a bit more poison : )

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From: Nitro Sent: 11/14/2002 9:59 AM
S-H

Aahh That makes sense. I have heard of the Mozambique Spitting Cobra. That is the one I was thinking about when the question came up. Couldn't remember the name though.

PS Only one new Common Brown Snake sighting, earlier this week. We managed to kill this one. Only a baby one about 15 inches. Good and Bad. Good its dead. Bad it is a baby and that means lots of others as well.

Keeping it in the fridge for dog training

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From: flintman Sent: 12/24/2002 2:31 AM
Nitro,Do you see very many Mambas?I live in Virginia(Appalachain Mountains)and all I ever see is blacksnakes,an occasional copperhead,and rarely,a rattler.Don't get me wrong,I DO NOT feel cheated!I'd rather not see any.Different areas of the world have their own dangers.

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From: Nitro Sent: 12/28/2002 1:25 PM
flintman

I am not based in Africa and we do not have mambas in Australia. Never seen a Mamba in Africa or any snake for that matter (outside of a snake park that is).

However we are "blessed" with several of the most poisonous snakes in the world including (in no particular order) the Taipan, the Death Adder, the Common Brown Snake (boring name but numerous and just as deadly), the Tiger Snake, the King Brown, the Red Belly Black Snake, among others.

That was a bad week. Now the sightings are down to one or two a week

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From: Safari-Hunt Sent: 12/30/2002 7:22 PM
Flintman,

The worst week I ever had was in 1995 in one week I killed 8 Mozambique spitting cobras 3 in one day. Never been that bad again so far occasional python with chickens and smaller snakes with birds.

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