Kris Massie's memories of Kitwe.
Part 23
On the subject of creepy crawlies, one early morning on our way to the 'butler’s' pantry for the necessary cup of tea, we came across four baby Black Mambas lying along the skirting board. Fearful eyes scoured around trying to find ‘mother’ ... Luka was summoned to find out how we were to deal with this small problem. With a shrug of his shoulders he fetched the broom and ‘tut-tutting’ as if ‘how dare they’, he swept them out and away from the house! It sounds terribly amusing but it really wasn’t.
The boys were home one holiday and having just arrived they charged outside to investigate what had occurred in their absence. On being called for dinner shortly after they realised they were still wearing shoes and socks and with these abandoned in the lounge and hands washed, they sat themselves at the dining table. Luka had already placed the food on the table and went to collect their shoes for polishing when … from the inside one shoe, a distinctive hiss was heard … to find yet another baby Black Mamba! We never did find ‘mother’ …
(Black Mamba’s are not black but an olive to grey colour. The ‘black’ part of the name comes from the colour inside the mouth, a purple black colour. Oh, they are extremely lethal too!)
One Saturday morning as I was serving breakfast a shout from eldest son to ‘come and look’ saw him pushing a wheelbarrow containing a Python they’d found and killed in the goat run. It had already swallowed a kid.
I might as well make a meal of it! In the dry season there is a constant fear of fire and on one particular day we had one start in the pine trees next to the house – a little too close for comfort. Knowing how tinder dry it was we immediately called on the fire brigade to come and help extinguish it. We weren’t far from town and they were with us in a matter of minutes. Having eventually doused the flames and saving many firs, husband and some of the firemen went in to check on the still smouldering logs. I ventured forth in my sandals just inside the verge and as I stood among the pine needles I felt something move against my toes. I looked down and not taking it all in at first, I puzzled over whether or not it was a Python. To my utter horror the triangles suddenly became more enhanced to bright yellow and pink and … Oh Mommy, I knew without a doubt that this was a Gaboon Viper!! I must have broken all records in my backward leap much to the amusement of those firemen on the road and I just yelled in one breath ‘Gaboon Viper kill it but don’t damage the head and don’t touch it, I’m going to get the snake book as I want to show you something.’
We had to kill this lethal snake, it was just too close to the house. Having taught them the first aid theory now was the time for the practical!
On my return the snake was by now in the middle of the road. I got one of the firemen to lever its mouth open with two sticks and with another I managed to lever one of its fang’s from its resting place in the upper jaw. Incidentally the upper jaw of vipers rotate and they can move their fangs forward and backward - they also have the longest fangs of any venomous snake … and on this specimen at least 1½” (they can go to 2”). We were carefully studying it when all of a sudden its tongue flicked out, and as all common sensed people would know this as rigor mortis. Not me, oh no! I took off like a rocket and there they found me in the lounge, on the settee with my arms wrapped round my legs … how they laughed as they teased and drank their well earned tea!
In the swimming pool we once caught a puff adder that had accidentally fallen in and this time it was taken away in a sack and released well away from the house.
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