Puffadders

Today I got up around 4.15 AM and saw outside there was a slight drizzle. I was not sure if we were going to do much besides feeding. Around 7.15 AM, we went with Louise to office. But today was something different. Louise told me they had spotted and relocated a big Puff Adder last evening. Puff Adders are mud brown colored poisonous snakes found in here. The big difference between black mamba and adder is Mamba will try to escape as soon as he scents humans or hears vibrations from foot steps, Puff Adder’s defense is to coil and lie down motionless until someone steps on it and gets bitten. They are very stealthy that way and can easily camouflage on flat ground. The poison is not as lethal as mamba’s but can cause serious tissue damage leading to Gangrene if not treated properly. Within few mins Zacharia came running with a small bag and said he again caught the same puff adder. Zacharia is a very daring sort of person with very little fear. I am not sure if this is good or bad but he handles many animals with ease without being afraid. He casually took out the puff adder from the bag and showed it to us and we took some close up photos and let the snake go. Now only Mamba is left to be seen and photograph. I must tell here that Puff Adder is a very cool snake and not a very aggressive type like some cobra’s or even Mamba. However they do not intent to hunt or bite humans on purpose. In fact none of the snakes do, we have some senseless weird ideas about them and unnecessarily harm they. Snake do have tremendous value as they feed on mice/rats which can cause havoc in rice and wheat fields and also spread diseases like plague.

Saturday & Sunday we don’t plan to do much as I will be getting ready to pack and return to the US early next week.

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