SNAKES IN THE GARDEN

Growing up in suburban Durban, we have had our fair share of encounters with snakes. Most of them were harmless – Brown House Snakes and Herald Snakes, but, unfortunately, a lot were killed on sight, and the killing continued when visiting relatives on farms in Vryburg and Grootvlei.

With the expansion of suburbs, and estates being established on the fringes of cities and towns, more and more good habitat is being destroyed and many forms of wildlife, including snakes, are forced into corridors of natural bush. This has resulted in somewhat of an explosion of snakes being found in gardens, not because they are massively increasing in numbers, but because they are running out of habitat. And residences attract rodents and frogs – ideal food for a variety of snakes.

The majority of snakes found in gardens are harmless – the likes of the Brown House Snake, Herald Snake, Rhombic Egg-eaters and harmless green water and bush snakes, but venomous snakes, including Puff Adders, various Cobras, the Rinkhals, Boomslang and even the Black Mamba also venture into gardens. The snake removers in the greater Durban area now remove more than 100 Black Mambas a year from residential gardens. Bites from these snakes are rare, but several dogs get bitten, and often with fatal results.

There are a few important points to remember – snakes do not attack unprovoked and do not chase after people. If you encounter a snake, back off at least five paces immediately and you will be perfectly safe (spitting snakes, like the Rinkhals and Mozambique Spitting Cobra, eject their venom up to about 3 meters – no further). Keep an eye on the snake from a safe distance, as they are masters of escape, and once out of sight, they are extremely difficult to find again. Immediately clear the area, get kids and pets out of the way, especially dogs. Most dogs instinctively want to attack any snake that they see, and this often ends badly.

Never attempt to catch or kill a snake – that is looking for trouble. Bended coat hangers and braai tongs were not designed for snake-catching. There are over 800 snake removers country wide, and they are listed on a free app called ASI Snakes (http://bit;y/ snakebiteapp). Go to “snake

removal” and the app will list the snake removers closest to you with their cell numbers.

As for any snakebite, the best course of action is to immediately get the victim to the nearest hospital with a trauma unit. Forget about cutting and sucking out the venom, applying a tourniquet, or any of the other ineffective first aid measures – get to a hospital. For more details on first aid for snakebites, go to the first aid section on the app.

When venom gets in someone’s eyes, immediately rinse with lots of water and get to a medical doctor who will do an examination for corneal damage and apply an antibiotic cream. The eyes should be healed within two or three days.

As for pets, there are no quick and easy remedies for severe snakebite envenomation. Forget about Allergex, milk, charcoal, antibiotics or antihistamine – get your pet to a vet immediately.

In case of severe envenomation, the only effective treatment is antivenom, and it is an expensive procedure.

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MARCH 2022 | PETPRINTS