On Saturday the 8th November myself and a friend were doing some field herping in a small patch of veld in Glen Austin, Johannesburg.
We'd come across five or six snakes, some frogs and a few lizards.
We came across a snake around 750mm in length, i picked up the snake to take a closer look at it (knowing it's identity) it managed to bite me twice, first bite was just a quick on and off whilst the second bite the snake proceeded to bite down rather hard with some intent
Not being overly concerned i took perhaps 30 seconds to gentle remove the snake ( as to not damage it's teeth/mouth) from my left hand where it had attached itself just below the thumb.
The bite site bleed freely for 2-3 minutes.
At around 11:30pm Saturday evening the hand has swollen considerably, skin quite tight and a noticeable throbbing and a definite stiffness in the thumb where the bite occurred which was also quite uncomfortable.
These photo's where taken approximately 36 hours after the bite occurred.
So what can we deuce from this?
Personally i know scores of people who has no affect to bites of this snake
myself included but never to this extent.
Goes to show different snakes can have different affects on people.
Saying X snake won't cause you any harm because X person has been bitten before isn't always true.
Rhombic Skaapsteker - Psammophylax rhombeatus


