Snake alert!!

We received this snake alert today and I wanted to share it along with the photos.  I find this so interesting and hope you do too.

I would like to share an interesting snake capture we had recently. On Sunday night at 22h30 I received a call from the Angola LNG control room reporting the sighting of a large snake at the security observation post located at the north eastern corner of the  camp along the drainage ditch. The snake, an African Python (Python sebae) managed to get  amongst some large rocks as seen in the photograph. This resulted in an hour long battle to get the snake out. I would like to thank the night shift guys as well as Angola LNG and Bechtel Teleservice security team for their assistance. With out there help I would never have been able to get to the snake.

It was great to be able capture and relocate a large specimen like this as large African Pythons are becoming rarer and rarer due to habitat destruction and indiscriminate hunting. This particular specimen was a female and measured 3.6m in length and weighed 21kg. She will be relocated to an area with suitable habitat far from human habitation. These pythons are Africa’s largest snake species and can reach lengths of up to 6m.

Unfortunately they are not the most friendly snakes and do bite readily. They are non-venomous and kill their prey through constriction. Their bodies are pretty much one long muscle which they use to literally squeeze the life out of their prey.  They have about 80 needle sharp re-curved teeth in their mouth. The best way I can describe a bite from a large python is like having 80 fish hooks embedded in your flesh with 20kg of solid muscle pulling from one end. To take a hit from a large python will definitely ruin your day!

The good news is like all snakes they are shy and retiring animals, avoiding contact with humans as much as possible. They prey mostly on appropriately sized mammals such as rodents, monkeys and antelope. They will also readily take birds and are well known for making a dent in local chicken populations! There are a few recorded attacks on humans however this is an extremely rare event. We are basically just too big to eat. They are mainly nocturnal using their heat sensing pits located just below and behind the nostril to detect their warm blooded prey in complete darkness.

Please report snake sightings and other wildlife related issues to the Wildlife Advisors.  

Python skull showing dentition.

regards

Tim Baynham

Wildlife Advisor

We do live in a very interesting and wild place.  I have never seen a snake in the wild and hope not to but am cautious when I go out at night for any reason.  There are not many places like this left on the earth, I believe so it is an adventure to live here.....even with the power problems.....