Spitting in the face of adversary

Today a cobra spat in my face.

It was my own fault really.

We met on the back doorstep; the snake was coming into the house as I was going out.

It was only a juvenile (about 0.5m long) and the colour of flour, which left me unsure of its species. Around here, most Mozambique spitting cobras are either muted terracotta or yellowish tan. Foolishly, I stepped between it and the hole it was fleeing toward, in an attempt to get a better look at it. The instant I blocked its retreat, it went on the defensive, rearing up, flattening out its striped hood and spitting venom like a mad thing.

These very young cobras go quite berserk once they start spitting. While keeping their bodies still, they jerkily swivel their heads back and forth in a semi circle, spitting in every direction. Try to imagine an over-excited machine-gun operator firing from a gun turret.

I felt a spray of venom on my cheeks but fortunately it didn't reach my eyes. The venom is harmless unless it enters a cut or sore, or contacts a mucus membrane. While most cobras' venom is neurotoxic (i.e. targets the nervous system), this species' is primarily cytotoxic (it destroys cells at the site). Get it in your eyes (which is where the snake is aiming) and it's excruciatingly painful; it can even cause permanent blindness if not rinsed out immediately. I'm forever having huge fights with the pets, trying to squirt water into their eyes when they're already going crazy from the pain.

The Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica) produces 200-300mg of venom; 50mg is fatal to humans. Photo by Ben Tupper and borrowed from here.

It was a snake-filled day all round.

Our brief dalliance with winter weather has ended, and temperatures are now back in the 30's (Celsius). Everyone is shucking off their overcoats and becoming active again. I mean this literally. On my walk with the dogs, I came across four newly shed snake skins. And then, when we were almost home, we met yet another African rock python (Python sebae). This one was young and small (1.5m), which was most reassuring.

Bad photo of tonight's python. Pythons are an ancient group; they used to slither about with the dinosaurs. Their bodies still carry the remnants of their long, lost hind limbs, with the bones from their once-upon-a-time pelvis forming small 'pelvic spurs'.

My hero

Snakes continue to complicate my life, but today I received help from an unexpected quarter.

Magic was deeply traumatized by our last encounter with the python; it was two weeks before she'd even risk sleeping on the floor at night.

Last week I noticed the python's track on the road by my house. That night it tried to take Wobbly Cat. She often sleeps outside on warm nights, and I found her in the morning standing stiffly on the drive, staring constantly around her with saucer eyes. She had a patch of dried saliva across her shoulders and, although seemingly unhurt, she would not move. Her legs trembled for the next four hours. I put her on my bed, and she's stayed there, continuously scanning the door, window and floor, for the last four days.

To exacerbate the trauma, yet another Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica) has moved into my house. These charmers can spit venom up to 1.5 metres and although their venom is relatively dilute (better for spitting) they're still lethal. The summer before last, a local ranger died after being bitten on the wrist by a youngster he was removing from a nearby lodge.

The cobras come into my house to hunt the frogs, who come in to catch the bugs, who come in to batter themselves against the lights (I felt like Dr Zuess there). My latest house guest spat in Magic's eyes twice on Saturday and although the dogs and cats are convinced its still in the house, I haven't been able to find where it's lurking (I found the last one nestled under the mattress on the bed in my spare room).

Anyway, today as I was working on my computer I heard a kafuffle on the back doorstep. Dashing out, I was startled to find a large Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) happily scoffing down the spitting cobra. I'd missed seeing him actually kill the unfortunate creature, but he consumed it in less than 5 seconds. Nile monitors are Africa's largest lizard (growing up to 2 metres long) and this particular one (a modest 1.5 m) is a regular visitor. He licks out the dogs' food bowls and bathes in my dish of tadpoles. But until today, I had not realised what a wonderful asset he was!