Inside the boat a poacher is frantically trying to make a radio call meanwhile outside his boat in the middle of the Amazon river his caged monkeys and parrots are shrieking in fear making noise outside and he knows what that means! A giant green Anaconda wants him for his meal and he is so distraught with fear that he ends up blowing his brains out with a revolver before the apex predator gets to him,that how scared most of us are of snakes! Ladies and gentlemen that's the opening scene to "ANACONDA" the hit 1997 movie starring JENNIFER LOPEZ, ICE CUBE , OWEN WILSON, JONATHAN HYDE, JOHN VOIGHT AND ERIC STOLTZ. (Pictured below is an African Rock Python coiled behind a large log at the Watamu Snake Park)
Snakes are a really fascinating species and it's for this very reason that we decided to learn more about this freak of nature and we decided to take a trip down south to the Kenyan coastal town of WATAMU in KILIFI COUNTY , KENYA to the WATAMU SNAKE PARK. It is here where we met JAKE, a seven year old snake enthusiast who interns at the snake park every time schools are closed. Jake has three snakes at home and his favourite one is a four metre (effectively four times his height) AFRICAN ROCK PYTHON which can grow to 6-7metres long as an adult. Jake found it when it was swallowing a dik dik with only the legs sticking out the reptile's mouth. (Jake is pictured with a sand boa below)
Some fun facts about snakes are;
1) They smell using their tongues.
2) Not all snakes are venomous
3) Pit vipers, boa constrictors and pythons can sense heat. YIKES!!!
4) Snakes have hundreds of ribs.
5) They have no eye lids.
6) They shed their skin.
7) Snakes hear vibrations on the ground using their jaw bones.
8) There are over 3,000 snake species worldwide.
9) The Black Mamba ( Africa's deadliest snake) also happens to the fastest with a top speed of 12 miles per hour in full flight.
10)Snakes have flexible jaws which means that they can swallow prey larger than them (imagine yourself swallowing a full watermelon as is and just being ok. That's normal for these guys).
Continuing with our tour Jake took us to the Sand Boa, a slow moving,non venomous coloured snake of the constrictor family which usually hides in the sand and surprises it's prey (usually small rodents) and usually kills the prey by wrapping itself around the prey and squeezing the life out of it hence the name Constrictor.Then he took us to the Black Mamba, a silverish lean,long and cylindrical snake and the second longest venomous snake species exceeded in length only by the King Cobra, it got the name "BLACK MAMBA" courtesy of it's all black tongue and mouth. We also got to see the BLACK NECKED SPITTING COBRA (which actually aims for your eyes when spitting venom at you that can even lead to blindness) If the venom falls on your skin it will cause irritation, blisters and inflammation good thing is that the mortality rates for humans is relatively low, 5-10%. ( Pictured below is a Black necked spitting cobra)
We also got to see the Boomslang, a large,highly venomous snake green in colour native to the coastal regions of Eastern Africa. The Egyptian Cobra( a large and deadly venomous snake that averages 1.4 meters and can grow up to 3 meters long and finally the African Rock Python which belongs to the Pythonidae family and it feeds on large prey like goats, dik diks, antelopes and even crocodiles!! It is Africa's largest snake species in size and definitely one of the most intimidating. We finished the tour by viewing a milking session ( snake venom extraction ) of the Egyptian Cobra. The snake's venom is made up of proteins and enzymes which means it's perfectly safe to consume it as long as you don't have any wounds or openings in your mouth which will allow the venom to get into your bloodstream only that we wouldn't recommend it. So maybe soon enough you may just have your favourite cocktail topped up with some black mamba venom...
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