In Autumn they look for a cosy nook to spend winter in. Unoccupied termite heaps, roofs, rubble, piles of rock (they heat up nicely in the sun and hold that heat for at least part of the night) and of course anywhere with a plentiful supply of winter lunches. In other words, rats or mice or even other snakes (in some cannibal species).
Among many other inconveniences of plot-life, is poor Internet connection. You work where the best connection is. My best connection happens to be near the pond. Since both the trees and I drip in the heat, I sit just in front of the big French Doors that pretend to be the Front door This sounds a bit odd, but all rooms except the bathrooms and spare-room open up on to the verandah..so it is a bit arbitrary. What makes this position doubly seductive, is the large ceiling fan directly overhead.. so soothing. It also discourages all but the most determined mosquitoes and abseiling spiders. But it does not discourage snakes.
On Friday, as I sat happily tapping away, and Nushka lay snoozing between the doors, a cobra rippled it's way from the garage under the philodendrons towards her.., Licorice, always on the alert, went for it, and took a huge chunk out of it's middle. It was horrible to see. It managed to slither off to the front of the garage where it reared up every now and then to spread its hood and hiss dire warnings of impending doom to all who passed, poor thing.
I phoned the Vet to enquire how long a snake might live after receiving such a clearly mortal wound.
"The Vet will only be here at five - try the Snake Park", said his kindly receptionist "do you need the number?"
"No thanks - got it on Speed Dial - don't know why I didn't think of it myself"
I phoned the Snake Park at Hartebeespoort, but they were closing.
"Oh don't worry. If it is still alive tomorrow, give us a call"
Tomorrow..???
I called the chaps on the radio for help. Corrie listened sympathetically.
"I'll be right over, don't worry" he said. Relief!
Then followed the sort of farce that only seems to happen to me.
There is a large electric fence around my plot. The gate opens by a hand held remote control. This remote is kept, not unreasonably, in my car. My car was in the garage. The garage in front of which the rearing Cobra sat. How to let him in?
I had given a spare remote for the gate to my neighbour for emergencies. I tried calling his wife on the farm radio. No reply. The cell phone - no reply. Landline - nothing. So Corrie arrived unannounced at her house and demanded the dufer for the gate. She was incensed. Give the remote to a stranger? Especially a rascally looking individual like Corrie? (the man catches snakes - he's no parlour-poodle) No way! She reckoned afterwards that the Cobra must have seemed positively meek after the reception he got from her, poor man.
A phone call defused the situation, but the dufer was not to be found. Neighbour's husband had departed for a camping trip to parts unknown with it in his car.. *sigh*
Luckily another neighbour, who also has a spare dufer, overheard the subsequent dialogue on his radio, and came to the rescue. And so a cavalcade of 4X4's made its way down my drive, and the poor Cobra - which was a two-and-a-half year old Snouted Cobra - was gently and removed and taken off to be put out of its misery.
On Sunday, Sam-the-Builder found another one - or rather, it found him in the garage, and was killed on the spot. So now I'm wondering.. is there a whole nest of them in that garage?
