Capetown
New member
Hey guys, I thought I'd share a bit of info about my last research trip. My mentor and I went with a group of biologists to study wildlife along the Nile River. Although I'm not technically a "herpetologist" I've been been dealing with snakes for many years now so my mentor, who is a herpetologist ( I'm basically his assistant) was asked to come along on this to assist in handling large or venomous snakes. We spent a week cruising the Nile it was very fascinating we saw all sorts of wild life from hippos to elephants to lions along the way but by far the most amazing creatures were of course the reptiles we found along the way. I got up close with egyptian cobras, black spitters, rock pythons and of course nile crocodiles. The nile crocodile is by far the most amazing and intimidating reptiles I've ever dealt with, we saw one that had killed a zebra that must have been 16 feet long it was huge. Unfortunatlely we had to cut the trip short as one of our guides was bitten by a boomslang. The guide I think was trying to impress us by finding what he thought was a harmless tree snake and was bitten on the wrist he didnt tell anyone at first until he realized the wound wouldnt stop bleeding. After he told us I had to go find the snake that had bitten him so it could be properly identified and we could administer the right antivenin (we keep as much on hand as possible in the field). Sure enough it was a boomslang and we had an hour and a half boat ride to the nearest town with a hospital I have not heard how he is doing since I got back to South Africa but when we left he was in bad shape, bleeding from his nose, ears and eyes with a very swollen body the last time I saw him. The antivenin slowed the progress of the venom but we didnt have enough to stop it. Anyways after we returned to camp my mentor and I decided to leave in the morning, the team had plenty of other snake specialists so we werent concerned about ruining the research. After being so closely involved with a bite like that we needed time to absorb it, going out and dealing with dangerous snakes with that on your mind is a distraction and distractions can be deadly. I've been bitten twice by venomous snakes my first was by a horned viper, luckily we had plenty of antivenin and the hospital was only 25 minutes away and once by a cape cobra which was luckily a dry bite but terrifying none the less. each time I took over a month off and considered if working with these animals that I love was worth my life and both times I decided I wouldnt be happy doing anything else. Anyways all in all an exciting trip those crocodiles are so amazing!!! My mentor and I are definitely going to build a massive enclosure over the next couple of months and get some nile crocs to study and learn about, awesome creatures!! Cheers!!
