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I’m a snake loving girl, always have been. So when I came across an injured snake on the road when driving in an Eastern Cape Nature Reserve a couple of years ago, I didn’t hesitate. I got out of the car and using a long stick and outstretched arms, moved it to safety.
My impulsive actions, driven by an ever-increasing desire to save the world one creature at a time, meant that I never paused to think about what kind of snake it was or whether I was placing myself in any danger. All that mattered to me was the hope of its survival and moving it off the road before the next car came along.
WATCH: The Incidental Tourist, Dawn Jorgensen shares some of her most profound travel experiences with News24 Live
I later found out that I’d moved a Boomslang (a pic of the injured snake above) - apparently placing myself in great danger. Little did it matter in the moment, as all I could do was ponder their vulnerability and bad press, hoping that I’d made a difference to that one injured snake.
There and then I decided to do a snake-handling course.
I live on a farm and often walk in the mountains and bush, which does increase the risk of my encountering a dangerous snake. Love them as I do, I needed to be better equipped to identify and make an educated decision that would be likely to save me - and the snake.
My research led me to a two-day course with the Cape Reptile Institute, run by renowned Herpetologist Dr Tony Phelps and assisted by Marcel Witberg.
The first day focused on awareness and first aid, snake identification and the handling of non-venomous snakes.
The first aid involved practical situations and emergency procedures in the event of a bite, with different applications required for a cytotoxic (adder) neurotoxic (cape cobra) and haemotoxic (boomslang) bite.
The seriousness of a snake bite is a terrifying reality, aggravated by the fact that species such as berg adders and black spitting cobra are both neurotix and cytotoxic.
We cannot be careful enough.
Day two had us handling the snakes, starting with a rather large and unusually docile mole snake. We learned how to pick them up and place them in containers for relocating. Which is what I would have to do if called in to remove one. It involves hooking the head whilst grabbing the tail, picking up and moving to the capture box. We progressed from a mole snake to a Boomslang, followed by a very large Cape Cobra and a Puff Adder.
The most challenging was the reenactment of an emergency situation where I was called to enter a bathroom scenario, locate, identify and safely remove a snake. Without getting myself hurt. This I achieved, with adrenalin pumping, as I found a large Cape Cobra curled up beneath a basin, not happy to be disturbed.
After this course I did a second a few month later, as a refresher and to build confidence.
I have twice removed Boomslang from my parent’s home in Pringle Bay and on more than one occasion calmly retreated when finding a snake on a walk. And yes, there have been occasions when I have screeched to a halt and removed scared snakes from busy roads.
My eyes are wide open and I practice basic rules:
- Step on a rock not over it while hiking.
- Treat all snakes as dangerous
- Do not touch them
- Always keep a safe distance and never provoke a reaction.
If you encounter a snake in your home of garden, it is best to contact a profession to remove it. Don’t kill it!
I’ve put out word around town that if any of my neighbors find a snake in their homes, they can call me to safely remove it. As terrifying as I admit that is. Through this I seem to have aligned myself to other friends of snakes and have much respect for those that work to educate people about both the dangers and the need to protect them.
It’s no surprise therefore, and as surprising as it seems, that recently when on Soweto’s famous Vilankazi Street, best known to have housed two Noble Peace Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I sought out the local ‘Snakes Show’.
Here Lindiwe Mngomezulu invites you into her home for a small fee and introduces you to her collection of non-venomous snakes in the hope of dispelling the myth that all snakes are dangerous. Registered with the West Rand Herpetological Association, together with her daughter Nolwandle Duma, she started raising snakes four years ago after going to see a snake show.
They currently have two albino pythons, a Burmese python, boa constrictor, anaconda and a corn snake as well as a bearded dragon lizard and two tarantula spiders. It costs about R300-R400 a month to feed them.
I visited and was shown around the well-kept cages and introduced to the reptiles, each named and nurtured. I opted to have an anaconda draped around my shoulders for the duration of the tour.
This is important work and can potentially help local residents and visitors overcome their fear, as well as prevent them from killing snakes. Lindiwe pointed out ‘people kill snakes every day even though they are less dangerous than dogs found on the streets.’ I really appreciate and respect her commitment and wish them both well with their perfectly placed micro-business and conservation efforts in this unlikely area.
To me snakes depict luck and charm. I do keep a respectful distance at all time, for their safety and mine. I do not want to be bitten! My hope is that more people will start to show them the respect and protection that they deserve.
Snake Course contact details: Marcel Witberg +27 82 784 7314 Email: witbergm@absamail.co.za
Dawn Jorgensenis the self-proclaimed 'Afriphile' behind the blog Incidental tourist
