What a welcome at Mpila

We had only just arrived at Mpila Camp in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park this afternoon, when we were welcomed by this Spotted Bush Snake on the mosquito screen of our kitchen door – What a welcome!

 

31 thoughts on “What a welcome at Mpila

  1. Petru J Viljoen's avatarPetru J Viljoen

    Jissie! Ek’t eendag hier ‘n groen boomslang gehad. Net terug van die dorp af en sit buite met ‘n koue bier, kaal voete en die slang seil van agter die stoel tussen my voete deur. Gelukkig het ek gevries. Reg by my agterdeur, dit was op pad binne toe, draai die ding stert om en seil weg. Hoe gelukkig kan mens wees? Ons het die bosslang ook, maar om die boomslang so ontsettend vinnig was het ek geweet wat dit was. Gelukkig nooit weer gesien nie.

    Reply
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Gelukkig is boomslange gewoonlik heel kalm en rustig, maar omdat hul so giftig is moet n mens maar jou afstand hou – jy’s gelukkig jy’t so lig afgekom van jou noue “encounter”!

      Reply
  2. allentimphotos2's avatarallentimphotos2

    Fascinating snake. Good to read it was not too dangerous to humans.
    I did vote for you. I’m awaiting the confirmation email. I’ll confirm when it arrives. Best with the competition although I think you have both in the bag.

    Reply
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Snakes do have that effect on many people, it must be one of our primal instincts. I’ve seen videos for instance of baboons feinting the moment a snake unexpectedly appears!

      Reply
  3. MZ&Cho's avatarMz&Cho

    I didn’t spot the reptilian visitor at the first look; then I did. It meshed with the blinds. Woe; must have scared the wits at first sight. Enjoy your trip!

    Reply
  4. naturebackin's avatarnaturebackin

    A beautiful snake, but it probably wished itself to be on the outside of the door as much as you wanted it to be once it knew it had been – um – spotted … Hope it was easy enough to assist it in escaping. Bit of an adrenaline rush for all I should think.

    Reply
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Luckily I could just walk around and open the gauze door from the outside, and then just used a broomstick to gently coax the snake down. I’m sure by the time I realised it was a relatively harmless bushsnake it was much more afraid of us than we were of it.

      Reply
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      I suppose if you are not familiar with our snakes you may confuse it with a green mamba, John, but for us that see them more regularly it is easy to see the differences so we weren’t too worried after the initial scare.

      Reply

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