For those of you who checked out my entry yesterday, the snake in question was a gaboon viper.
These are SUPER BAD snakes.
Hailing from south-central Africa, they are super venomous and highly dangerous.
Gaboon vipers average 3-6 feet in length can weigh nearly 20 pounds. Their super-thick bodies are full of powerful muscles that give them enough striking power to break a person’s leg. And if that’s not bad enough, their fangs are the longest of any snake at two inches, allegedly delivering more venom than any other poisonous snake.
This snake’s incredible camouflage pattern blends into the forest floor like magic. In Texas we fear accidentally sitting on a copperhead while squirrel hunting over a bed of leaves. In parts of Africa, this creature would be the worry. I don’t think I would be sitting anywhere outside in gaboon viper territory.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
thought you were talking about Texas snakes—guess I better read closer
I had the privilege of hunting in Central Africa Republic last year and was aware of this viper from my pre-trip research. It was 100 degrees and humid on the trip and I shed my snake guards two days into the hunt. On four, I walked right past one on a trail without even seeing it until someone in the trail behind me saw it. Being 100 km from any town of size, I surely would have had a BIG problem had I been struck!
Oh wow Andrew. The Lord was with you that day! Did you shoot it? That would make a cool mount!
No, we were pretty focused on the game we were going after, and honstly,
stumbling through the rain forest in those conditions, I was just trying
to keep up with the trackers!