Category: South Africa

Imagine getting into bed just to feel something wriggle or even bite you! I would definitely scream like a girl! Well I did scream like a girl on Christmas night 2019 when my cat decided to bring me a live Christmas present – a giant rat bit my finger, but that’s a story for another day! No this article is about our poor pups that got a seriously unwelcomed cuddle buddy in their kitchen bed! What we presume to be a baby herald snake also known as the Red lipped snake was looking for some warmth on a cold winter’s night, unfortunately it did not get the welcoming party it expected! Tom was in the bedroom and I was enjoying a nice warm shower, when all of a sudden 1 of our 4 pups – Racer started barking. Now although these pups are already huge for their age, they are still babies and are scared of everything, so they tend to bark at anything and everything that goes bump in the night! And this snake was no exception! This is the very first time these puppies have ever seen a snake and I am so grateful they rather bark at their fears then bite the thing that scares them. At first we thought Racer was barking either at his siblings or he got a fright for something… Tom and I got to the kitchen almost at the same time and at first were confused about why Racer was barking at his bed; of course the rest of the pups had already retreated to the bedroom not even taking chances with this strange creature! Sorry for the poor quality pics – We only had our cellphone cameras on hand and wanted to get this poor snake back to safety as soon as possible! The little snake was very courageous in trying to ward off the giant! It tried blowing its head up and standing up like a cobra, although a cobra has a hood and this little guy/girl did not! – Fun fact this is typical defense mechanism for them… Although they are mildly venomous they pose no threat to larger mammals only toads and frogs! – Click the link below to find more fun facts like this 1! Flicking its tongue and hissing it pretended to be a mighty snake although it was really small. It definitely worked in scaring off the enemy. We were fortunate to have been able to catch the poor snake before the Jack Russell’s got their chance to jump in. Unfortunately these small dogs were bread to hunt and bite before they think! Our little snake friend luckily calmed down real quick after a couple tries in getting it in the container to set it free! It was a little bit of a mission as it kept flicking itself out with the back of its tail every time we put it in the jug! Well I guess it’s not the easiest thing in the world catching a snake with oven gloves/mittens and trying to chuck it in a small jug that is a little shorter than the snake itself! I am just so grateful this snake was harmless and that it doesn’t appear to have bitten any of our pups… Now our puppies are super cautious going to lie on the bed. They sniff and lift everything up before lying down just to make sure there’s nothing waiting to chase them off again! Click on the link to find out all the fun facts about the herald snake/red-lipped snake!  >>>>>> Herald/Red Lipped Snake