Of Rain and Reptiles!

It's always a time of rejoicing at the edge of the desert, when the rains come!

And last night they came!

20mm of steady soaking rain…

…along with the accompanying power outage!

But we were happy anyhow for the wonderful rain!

Our happiness suddenly turned to heart-stopping fear when in the dark with dim torchlight, my husband nearly stepped on a large Puff Adder lying across the path along the back of our house, as he went to lock the laundry door before heading to bed!

The Puff Adder, in case you didn't know is a highly venomous snake and is the snake responsible for the most snake bite deaths in Africa.  They are not to be trifled with.  The main problem with them is that they just lie in the path and don't move when you come close.  They don't slither off and their colours camoflage very well with the ground, so they are not easy to see and very easy to step on accidentally….and much less easy to see of course amoung the dark shadows of a moonless, rainy night with a power outage.

All calls to 'snake handler' friends availed nothing, as it seemed they had decided that rain and no power was a good reason for an early night.

So eventually I found a phone number for the BDF (Botswana Defence Force) who have a snake handling unit that can be called upon for such situations…..for a fee of P100 (about USD$10).  We assured them that we would absolutely be able to pay them their P100 when they came.

So we watched (the snake…from a distance), and we waited (for the BDF soldiers to come from their base), in the now cold wet night air.  It's amazing how quickly a hot day can turn to a cool night with a good dose of rain.

There has maybe never been a more welcome vehicle coming up the dirt track to our house at almost 11pm, than that BDF vehicle and its two occupants.

Within moments Soldier number one had his hooked stick around Mr Puff Adder and manouvered it into the large crate, while Soldier number 2 shone the torch.  Mind you Mr Puff Adder put up a bit of resistance with an extra vigorous wiggle, but the soldier won!  It all seemed so simple and was over within a few seconds, but we were very glad to let them do it all.

With Mr Puff Adder safely  secured in his crate on the back of the BDF bakkie (read 'ute' for Aussies and 'pickup truck' for Americans), we paid our P100, were issued an official receipt for 'snake retrieval', and the BDF vehicle, now with its extra occupant, drove off down the hill and away into the night.

This morning we woke up and found the receipt in a pocket and were reminded that it really did all happen….we have the piece of paper to prove it!

But we don't recommend meeting Puff Adders late on dark rainy nights….in fact we don't recommend meeting Puff Adders any time at all!

But we do thank the Lord for his protection….and for actually finding it the way we did, and now knowing its far away and not lurking under a log or some leaves somewhere near our back door.  There are probably a few more out in the bush on the hill where we live, and for that reason (along with scorpions) we make every effort to keep doors closed and have screens on windows!