It goes without saying that Namibia’s wildlife doesn’t always stay out in the wild. From time to time, it creeps into the cozy, quiet suburbs, with real potential to create a ruckus; mayhem; even brouhaha. Perhaps a snake is spotted near the pool sunning itself. Maybe it’s luxuriating on the cool ceramic floors, or maybe it’s cozied up in the shadows of a closet.
Of course snakes of Namibia have their own Facebook page. These days, who doesn't? Actually, the page is more like a public support group with the intention of educating the public on identifying dangerous snakes versus the non dangerous. The FB page contains "what is this?" of snake photos, plus documents on first aid, and details for snake catchers within the country - a handy tool for when not only ophidiologists (snake studiers) but people with ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) as well. For non FB people, Instagrammers can search #snakesofnamibia for some gnarly snake close ups. The photos I took at N/a'an ku sê were nothing short of sad. They were blurry and uninspiring, but the trip was still worth it and I can confidently identify what is a snake to what is not. Ha ha.
Lucky for us, we've only had garden variety snakes pass through our yard, skimming across rocks while chasing lizards. Whereas, our neighbor recently found a legitimately dangerous snake in his yard: a puff adder, a snake ubiquitous to Namibia. I'd like to say the situation ended well with the snake safely relocated, but the photographic evidence of splattered snake innards told me otherwise.
Brown, fat, and squatty with a skinny tail, the chevron marked puff adder is a crabby bugger that doles out a crazy painful bite if provoked. Furthermore, untreated bites (usually in the case of people living in rural conditions without medical access,) people will die about 50% of the time from shock as well as hemolytic, coagulopathic, and hemorrhagic responses to the venom. If they are lucky, the victim gets away with only tissue necrosis and severe edema requiring extensive skin grafting.
It's easy to see then why people are so hell bent on total elimination of snakes especially when humans are psychologically wired to be wary of dangerous creatures. They are part of a “legacy of our distant primate past, when the animals posed one of the greatest threats to our survival.” In fact, scientists think they’ve even pinpointed the exact spot in our brains that alarms us to present danger: the pulvinar, which processes the images the eyes capture into a series of signals, and allows the ability to sharpen our attention to the particular danger-filled object, such as a snake. This small part of the brain is part of the thalamus which is sort of a sensory processor. Simply put, it helps us hone in on perceived danger. Interestingly, the pulvinar also plays a significant role in diagnosing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. On MRI, the pulvinar lights up like a fun house in patients with CJD which is a an incurable and rapidly degenerative brain disorder.
During a visit to N/a'an ku sê Sanctuary, the kids, Mark, and I participated in a snake education session that would cover the basics of snake safety along with a snake-show-and-tell, presented by one of Windhoek's premiere snake catchers: Francois Theart. When I made the reservation, I had spoken directly to Francois who was clearly passionate, educated, and driven in the field of herpetology; a man who I pictured would be a bearded, sixty year old professor wearing a button down safari shirt and shorts. Instead, we got a petite, Red Bull chugging, 26-year-old in baggy jeans and tinted glasses, who had taught himself everything there is to know about snakes. I loved everything about him.
For over an hour, Francois presented the crowd with an incredible amount of snake information: their habitats, their reproduction, their behaviors and mannerisms. He spoke at length about the apparent lack of anti-venom protocol in local hospitals and the profound costs associated with inaccurately administering an expensive and toxic medicine. It makes sense when you think about it, but not all snake bites require the same treatment. Some bites don't require anti-venom at all, but instead could require skin grafting and wound treatments, like with a mild puff adder bite or a copperhead. He had been collaborating with international and professionally trained snake experts to create a standard operating procedure for handling anti-venom, an arduous project that should be (excitingly) finalized in coming weeks.
Francois' biggest soap box however, was trying to allay fears that 99.9% of the time, snakes want nothing to do with humans. They aren't looking for a fight at all, using their defense mechanisms as a last resort. I could see his point when he put a puff adder down at this feet in the snake pit. Pissed as she was, we could hear her hissing from 8 feet away, but she kept circling away from his reach.
Francois showed us a zebra spitting cobra, where I learned that any snake with "spitting" in its name has 90% accuracy for spitting venom towards the victim's eyes, resulting in partial or permanent blindness. This particular snake's head was shoved in a clear tube while Francois held onto the tail. Clearly, he wasn't taking any chances. Putting that one safely back into his plastic shoe box, Francois whipped out another snake of vague grey-brown color. It seemed anti-climatic after the zebra cobra's impressive black and white rings, but the grand finale (at least for the adults) was seeing the black mamba.
Black mambas are legendary for a very good reason: Death from a mamba bite is 100% certain without prompt and careful administration of anti-venom and resuscitative support, within 40 minutes, according to Francois. He admitted that his first (and so far only) snake bite was from a black mamba, ironically not in the bush, but at Hosea Kutako International Airport. As a famous snake handler, he was called in to manage the situation, but the mamba ended up biting him in the hip.
Brown, fat, and squatty with a skinny tail, the chevron marked puff adder is a crabby bugger that doles out a crazy painful bite if provoked. Furthermore, untreated bites (usually in the case of people living in rural conditions without medical access,) people will die about 50% of the time from shock as well as hemolytic, coagulopathic, and hemorrhagic responses to the venom. If they are lucky, the victim gets away with only tissue necrosis and severe edema requiring extensive skin grafting.
It's easy to see then why people are so hell bent on total elimination of snakes especially when humans are psychologically wired to be wary of dangerous creatures. They are part of a “legacy of our distant primate past, when the animals posed one of the greatest threats to our survival.” In fact, scientists think they’ve even pinpointed the exact spot in our brains that alarms us to present danger: the pulvinar, which processes the images the eyes capture into a series of signals, and allows the ability to sharpen our attention to the particular danger-filled object, such as a snake. This small part of the brain is part of the thalamus which is sort of a sensory processor. Simply put, it helps us hone in on perceived danger. Interestingly, the pulvinar also plays a significant role in diagnosing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. On MRI, the pulvinar lights up like a fun house in patients with CJD which is a an incurable and rapidly degenerative brain disorder.
During a visit to N/a'an ku sê Sanctuary, the kids, Mark, and I participated in a snake education session that would cover the basics of snake safety along with a snake-show-and-tell, presented by one of Windhoek's premiere snake catchers: Francois Theart. When I made the reservation, I had spoken directly to Francois who was clearly passionate, educated, and driven in the field of herpetology; a man who I pictured would be a bearded, sixty year old professor wearing a button down safari shirt and shorts. Instead, we got a petite, Red Bull chugging, 26-year-old in baggy jeans and tinted glasses, who had taught himself everything there is to know about snakes. I loved everything about him.
For over an hour, Francois presented the crowd with an incredible amount of snake information: their habitats, their reproduction, their behaviors and mannerisms. He spoke at length about the apparent lack of anti-venom protocol in local hospitals and the profound costs associated with inaccurately administering an expensive and toxic medicine. It makes sense when you think about it, but not all snake bites require the same treatment. Some bites don't require anti-venom at all, but instead could require skin grafting and wound treatments, like with a mild puff adder bite or a copperhead. He had been collaborating with international and professionally trained snake experts to create a standard operating procedure for handling anti-venom, an arduous project that should be (excitingly) finalized in coming weeks.
Francois' biggest soap box however, was trying to allay fears that 99.9% of the time, snakes want nothing to do with humans. They aren't looking for a fight at all, using their defense mechanisms as a last resort. I could see his point when he put a puff adder down at this feet in the snake pit. Pissed as she was, we could hear her hissing from 8 feet away, but she kept circling away from his reach.
Francois showed us a zebra spitting cobra, where I learned that any snake with "spitting" in its name has 90% accuracy for spitting venom towards the victim's eyes, resulting in partial or permanent blindness. This particular snake's head was shoved in a clear tube while Francois held onto the tail. Clearly, he wasn't taking any chances. Putting that one safely back into his plastic shoe box, Francois whipped out another snake of vague grey-brown color. It seemed anti-climatic after the zebra cobra's impressive black and white rings, but the grand finale (at least for the adults) was seeing the black mamba.
Black mambas are legendary for a very good reason: Death from a mamba bite is 100% certain without prompt and careful administration of anti-venom and resuscitative support, within 40 minutes, according to Francois. He admitted that his first (and so far only) snake bite was from a black mamba, ironically not in the bush, but at Hosea Kutako International Airport. As a famous snake handler, he was called in to manage the situation, but the mamba ended up biting him in the hip.
I was eager for more details on the events that followed, but he wouldn't elaborate on anything else. Sometimes snake handlers are a real buzz kill. Anyway, these skinny gun-metal colored snakes have black mouths (thus their name) and are crazy long, reaching lengths up to 12 feet. Like with the others, Francois handled the mamba with a snake hook, having to readjust its wandering head from coming into arm's length. He held his own, but I could see the hesitation and respect he had for this animal. I can't imagine how he managed to speak while the mamba was out in the open.
Sure, the children thought the experience was really cool, but Francois brought down the house when presented a ball python for them to pet. In an instant, all fears were gone as pairs of tiny, eager hands ran down the python's skin. This snake was brought to Francois after police confiscated it from an unlicensed individual. Apparently in Namibia, special permits are required for all exotic animals, including snakes. So the ball python has more or less become the N/a'an ku sê Snake Experience's mascot. I commented that I know someone from the States who has used a ball python as a form of animal therapy for her children. He thought this was 100% awesome because ball pythons for some reason, have a calming effect to most people who interact with it. I wonder if insurance would ever cover that type of therapy? Probably not, but I like the idea.
We know to stay calm (good luck with that- I know I will be a shrieking mandrake if I ever see a snake in my home) as most snakes will flee immediately if they see you. If opportunity warrants, take a photo and for those up for a challenge, make it a selfie too. Identification is always good and really, who doesn’t love a good snake story accompanied by proof? When out hiking, as a good rule of thumb, avoidance is always a fine idea and give snakes wide berths on the trails. Oh and by the way, spray products such as Snake Be Gone or Snake Repel are totally useless.
To avoid snake bites, wear long pants and boots. Take care when collecting firewood, especially in low light. Always watch your step when hiking over rocks and logs to avoid a surprise ambush, and avoid dreamy strolls through tall grass.
Sure, the children thought the experience was really cool, but Francois brought down the house when presented a ball python for them to pet. In an instant, all fears were gone as pairs of tiny, eager hands ran down the python's skin. This snake was brought to Francois after police confiscated it from an unlicensed individual. Apparently in Namibia, special permits are required for all exotic animals, including snakes. So the ball python has more or less become the N/a'an ku sê Snake Experience's mascot. I commented that I know someone from the States who has used a ball python as a form of animal therapy for her children. He thought this was 100% awesome because ball pythons for some reason, have a calming effect to most people who interact with it. I wonder if insurance would ever cover that type of therapy? Probably not, but I like the idea.
How to deal with snakes:
We know to stay calm (good luck with that- I know I will be a shrieking mandrake if I ever see a snake in my home) as most snakes will flee immediately if they see you. If opportunity warrants, take a photo and for those up for a challenge, make it a selfie too. Identification is always good and really, who doesn’t love a good snake story accompanied by proof? When out hiking, as a good rule of thumb, avoidance is always a fine idea and give snakes wide berths on the trails. Oh and by the way, spray products such as Snake Be Gone or Snake Repel are totally useless.
To avoid snake bites, wear long pants and boots. Take care when collecting firewood, especially in low light. Always watch your step when hiking over rocks and logs to avoid a surprise ambush, and avoid dreamy strolls through tall grass.
Should worlds collide and you do get bitten, medical attention is of utmost importance, particularly if the snake is unidentified. Quickly remove any jewelry and constricting clothing and try to keep the victim still to keep the heart rate and circulation from rising. Whatever you do, do not cut the skin near the snake bite, nor attempt to suck the venom out. Tourniquets are a bad idea, as is application of ice or hot water.
It's most important to self-educate. Take the time to learn “what’s living where” because the dangers in Namibia are certainly different from those in South Africa. So where to look? Part of the "Environmental Information Service of Namibia", the website "Atlasing in Namibia" has a useful database of local species, where users can document, map, and photograph sightings around the country. This includes resources on not just snakes, but mammals, amphibians, birds, and plants too. Or you can check out the African Snake Bite Institute, for free downloads and education material. This site was developed by a well known South African snake expert named Johan.
Of course snakes of Namibia have their own Facebook page. These days, who doesn't? Actually, the page is more like a public support group with the intention of educating the public on identifying dangerous snakes versus the non dangerous. The FB page contains "what is this?" of snake photos, plus documents on first aid, and details for snake catchers within the country - a handy tool for when not only ophidiologists (snake studiers) but people with ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) as well. For non FB people, Instagrammers can search #snakesofnamibia for some gnarly snake close ups. The photos I took at N/a'an ku sê were nothing short of sad. They were blurry and uninspiring, but the trip was still worth it and I can confidently identify what is a snake to what is not. Ha ha.
Will I have any Snake Experience takers for future visitors to Namibia?
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| Puff Adder, fat and VERY unhappy |
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| Francois and the Zebra Spitting Cobra |
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| Blurry black mamba but you get the idea of length. |
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| A black mamba's head has a tell-tale coffin shaped head. Coincidence? |
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| Petting the ball python. |
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