The Black Mambas of Malawi

It is snake season in Malawi. 'Mamba' means snake here in Lilongwe and the Black Mamba is the biggest of them all. It is actually the biggest and deadliest snake in Africa. And it seems that one was found in our carport last year.

I hadn't actually thought much about snakes until this week although I figured that they might be around. We are used to being careful about snakes in Australia in summertime and I probably should have put a bit more effort into informing myself about Lilongwe because it is in the wet season, the hottest season, which is just upon us, that the snakes are most active.

My Danish neighbour Birgitta found that out last week. She was sewing at her dining table when she felt something on her lap and looked down .... it was a snake. It fell to the floor as she jumped up and probably got more of a shock than she did because she was not bitten.

She showed me a photograph she had taken, before it ended up in more than one piece and I looked it up on the web later and think it is a harmless Vine Snake (see above).

It is now a very dead Vine Snake because Fred the gardener came in to dispatch it. Birgitta was left with a very bloody floor but no other damage.

She thinks the snake came in through the open doors and I had been aware that one must be careful about just this possibility but Birgitta is new to Africa and she also does not have air conditioning so keeping doors and windows open is a must for her. Well, now windows; the doors remain closed unless she can watch any comings and goings.

It was when I was talking to a friend who lived here for some months last year that I heard the story about the Black Mamba in the carport. He warned us to be careful early morning and at night and I have to say, I hadn't really thought about it until he mentioned the earlier unwelcome visitor.

Black Mambas (see left) can be as long as 12 feet and are nervous, unpredictable and lethal which is an unfortunate combination.  From the look of it they also have a very big mouth and very big fangs.

No doubt the paranoid nature is what makes them so aggressive. They have been known to attack cars. Apparently they like dry places and dead trees and rocky areas are a favourite. I suspect that means they also like getting under the roof of houses.

They live on rats and other small animals so the less there is for them to eat the better. Our Black Mamba visitor of the past may have just lost his way but remaining aware of the possibility of a return visit is important at least until the Wet Season finishes.

I have asked Manuel to put some very bright lights into our genset shed because the open breeze-blocks and the cool interior are going to be 'snake heaven'. And I am thinking we need the switch just by the door so we can reach it before stepping inside.

Manuel laughed when I said the snakes would love the shed and I wanted bright lights.

He said: 'No, this isn't Australia.' But when I told him of our Black Mamba moment  in the past and Birgitta's experience last week he quickly admitted he had it wrong and that the lights would be very bright.

Fortunately for me I will be out of here for most of the Wet although it is summer in Oz and already there are reports that the snakes are out in force because we had a very wet Winter and Spring. But to put things in perspective we have had only half a dozen snake encounters in the 14 years we have had the farm so it is not as if we live in snake central!

But as part of my snake education I will study the list I found of Malawi snakes and will share my new knowledge with Birgitta and my other neighbour, Pawadee, who are coming for coffee tomorrow:

Black Mamba:

The beast of the Malawian bush. An aggressive snake that has been know to attack cars driving along the side of the road. If you see a long, big black snake - get away from it!

Green Mamba:

Green mambas are more common, and are not aggressive snakes. Bright green in appearance they will spend more time trying to get away from you.

Puff Adder (and others):

Short, fat and poisonous. Adders are short and very well camoflaged on the ground.

Tree Snakes:

Poisonous and normally found in mango trees, which is apparently something of a mouse 'supermarket.' There are range of tree snakes in Malawi of which the Vine Snake which foolishly curled up in Birgitta's lap was one.

She thinks it must have been curled around the table leg and decided, once she was whirring away at her sewing that her lap looked much warmer and more inviting. It won't do that again!

Interestingly Birgitta showed me that she wore a silver snake bracelet and she smiled and said she wondered if it meant something. I am sure it does. I do believe that 'like attracts like' and the snake energy would have been more powerful around her because of the bracelet. She is still wearing it but keeping doors closed.

I actually like snakes although not necessarily ones I don't expect to be where they are. We have friends in Hahndorf who keep snakes and I remember the first time I held one, being surprised by how smooth, cool and calm it felt. But snakes in this situation are very different to snakes in your lap, your carport or your house or your path.

It is a salutary reminder to be careful. Just as we are at the farm in summer where brown snakes, also very deadly, are active and I never go into the garden or paddocks without high boots, my mobile phone and a great deal of attention on where I am walking. And we teach the children to freeze if they see a snake and preferably not to go out without a dog. I know it seems awful but better for the dog to be bitten than one of us.

We have had two cats bitten by brown snakes in previous years and luckily found them in time. A few days and quite a few hundred dollars later they were completely recovered and back home from the vet. I think they might have been bitten by baby browns with whom they were looking to play.

We also lost a yearling to a red bellied black snake which is even deadlier than the brown but rarely seen. So it is not that I am not 'snake-aware' but I have to say, having seen some photos of Black Mambas I prefer never to meet one in person. I am not sure the 'freeze' approach would work with them. Most snakes are more scared of you than you are of them and will slither away quicksmart as long as you stay still and don't threaten them. From the sound of it the Black Mamba would be tempted to have a 'go' at you just because you had the audacity to enter it's 'space.'

However, like all things including malarial mosquitoes and insane drivers on African country roads the snakes are all part and parcel of life here and there is a lot of fate and destiny involved in whether you are 'brought low' by any of them.