Dead Puff Adder

At 8:00 a.m. a few mornings ago the Ward children came to my door with something they were excited to show me--a dead puff adder that their parents had killed.

This one is 32" long and apparently one of the fatter ones that the Wards have seen.

Around  9:30 the previous evening, the older of the Ward boys was in bed but not asleep. He heard something rustling through some dead leaves on the ground just outside his window.

He called out to his parents and said he had heard something rustling outside. His dad, Vince, rushed out with a flashlight and spotted a puff adder (easily recognizable by its markings) coming towards him along the side of the house.

(This picture shows the side of the house the next morning. You can see the dead puff adder and the trail that he made the night before coming from the dead leaves further back. The boys' bedroom window is just above the leaves.)

Vince called his wife Julie and, after quickly securing the dog, who was outside on the other side of the house, she came rushing with a shovel in one hand and a Dinka hoe (a long stick with a small flat blade at the end of it) in the other. 

Julie pinned down the snake with the hoe, but only caught the side of him and he managed to wiggle away. Before he could get very far, she pinned his neck down firmly with the hoe then used the shovel to sever it.

Vince was holding the light--a very important role since it was dark and we don't have any outdoor lighting.

According to Wikipedia, puff adders are the most common snakes in Africa. 

We kill about 4 or 5 a year on average on our compound. (I probably shouldn't say "we," though! I have never killed one and have never even seen a live one.)

The puff adder's beautiful markings are quite distinctive.





You may have been surprised to see that the path left by the snake was quite straight. 

They primarily move in a caterpillar fashion, using the broad scales on their bellies and aided by their own weight for traction. 

However, when agitated, puff adders can resort to a typical serpentine movement and move with surprising speed.

In the photo above, Julie is holding the puff adder's mouth open to show its fangs. 

We always thank God and rejoice when we kill a puff adder because they are quite deadly. They are responsible for more fatalities than any other African snake. This is due to several factors, including its wide distribution, common occurrence, potent venom that is produced in large amounts, long fangs, and their habit of basking by footpaths and sitting quietly when approached.

We are only too aware of the damage that puff adders can do. No one on our team has been bitten by one, but we have had neighbours die of their bites, and almost a year ago our beloved watchdog Bullet died of one.

The black tongue is quite long when pulled out. 

By the way, the Wards plan to skin the puff adder and dry the skin. It will be a beautiful souvenir for them to take back to Canada in a few months.