Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Herpetologist available?



After living in Kenya for nearly 11 months it is easy to forget you live in Africa. Amelia goes to a Western style missionary school. We have Wasungu neighbors. We often eat traditional American foods like pizza, hamburgers, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And finally, most people around speak english Yesterday I remembered, "Oh yes we are still in Africa."

As I came home from lunch I heard Nancy our helper scream as she exited our front door. She was holding Mocha's sleeping blanket in the air and had a broom in the other hand. As she pulled out his blanket out crawled this snake. Before I could do anything the gardener next door smashed the snake's head with a shovel. It continued to squirm for several minutes and of course Amelia and her friends were quite amused as they continued to aggravate the dying snake by poking it with a snick until it would twist.

Oh, I thought no big deal must just be some ordinary snake. Why did the gardener destroy it so quickly? But wait, we are in Africa home to some of the most dangerous snakes alive including the puff adder (strikes incredibly fast and holds it victim), black mamba (its venom is a potent cardio and neurotoxin and can kill in as little as 30 minutes), gaboon viper (has the longest fangs and highest venom yield (1000 mm) of any snake), and the eqyptian cobra (preys on rats and chickens).

I imagine this was most likely a non-venomous snake. But if anyone out there can identify the name of this snake it would calm all our nerves, including our poor dog Mocha.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Life is never dull!
Love, Mom from Bend with freezing rain. I am staying home.

Ana said...

I'm guessing from a quick Google search that it is the "African House Snake". Non-poisonous and often found in human dwellings. They come in shades of brown, black, red, and green. Apparently there is a market for them in the US--gross! One creepy tidbit: they are prolific breeders and lay eggs every couple months. Let's hope you don't have an infestation any time soon.

Christina said...

Malin - my neighbor on station recently killed a black mamba in his house. I had a hard time sleeping and walking into the hospital in the middle of the night for several days afterwards. Yikes! Hope to see you guys in Nairobi this weekend!

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