Living in Africa taught us a lot about nature and even when living in an urban environment you could encounter some new or unknown species of life.
For a few years I lived in a beautiful coastal town on the East Coast called Margate. I bought an old house next to a river which sat on a ridge with gardens running down onto a public road. Opposite the road was a dense little jungle alongside the river. The area was known as Faerie Glen.
Green Mamba – photo by Volkmar Kantor
I often found snakes on the property and also some extremely venomous species. Green mambas and puff adders weren’t uncommon to frequent the area. Luckily like most snakes the green mambas were shy and would avoid contact with humans where possible. Their venoms consist mostly of neurotoxins and a bite can be fatal to humans without access to proper first aid and subsequent antivenom treatment, as it shuts down the lungs and heart. Puff adders on the other hand are lazy reptiles and would bake on rocks in the sun. Lazy, but they are the fastest striking snakes in Africa and can strike forwards or sideways. Their venom is cytotoxic (tissue destroying). These two snake species were my biggest concern.
Puff Adder – photo by kibuyu
Night adders which are also venomous but not deadly were in abundance on the property. They were living under the twenty stone steps leading up to the house veranda from the garage. At nights they would peep from their holes under the steps and wait for the frogs to appear, snatch them up and withdraw back in their holes with the frogs dangling from their unhooked jaws. For my kids’ safety I was forced to eradicate them and close all the holes in the stairs with cement. I also installed spotlights on the pathway leading up to the house.
Night Adder – photo by Steven Gilham
The property was dangerous from this point of view but had character and a lovely atmosphere and setting. I worked hard in the garden every weekend to keep it neat, clean and safe.
One Saturday morning while doing my usual maintenance in the garden which also consisted of picking up fallen leaves and branches from trees, I noticed a fallen branch next to the garage. This seemed a bit odd at first because there were no trees directly next to the garage. Not giving it much more thought I stooped to pick it up. As I grabbed it I got the fright of my life. The branch was alive and started moving and squirming in my hand! I threw it down and it ran like a giant spider across the road and into the bushes towards the river. I stood there frozen and couldn’t believe my eyes while watching it disappear. With a beating heart I ran up the steps into the house and told the family.
Stick Insect – photo by Klaus Stiefel
I should have gone back to find it as today I realize that it was probably the biggest stick insect ever sighted. It was at least 50cm by 50cm in size with some limbs as thick as my fingers.
Who knows how long these insects live and how big it has become by now. Have you ever had nature bringing goose bumps all over your body? I still get them every time I talk about grabbing it and feeling that writhing in the palm of my hand.
About Bugs
I got my inspiration for this website from the song called “Imagine”, and so I decided to go on this adventure. I have always wanted to put up something like this where my friends and I could express our memories and dreams for the future. Share them with us, because if many people dream the same dream it will certainly come true.
I find it funny that you had to deal with so many snakes, but it’s the stick insect that creeps you out!
Yuk! Now you tell me the snakes lived under those stairs. I wonder how many times the peeped at me climbing those stairs to visit you. Eeeekkkk!
Bugs, thanks a lot to you for your great story, and thank God you never invited me when you lived there because snakes give me the creeps, and I would surely have fainted.