Friday 28 June 2013

First encounter with a snake

I don't have any memory of my first encounter with a snake but my Mum does.  We were living on a farm near Gwelo, Rhodesia, (later renamed Zimbabwe.)  I was just a few months old.  My Dad was an air force pilot and my mother was a house wife.  One afternoon my Mum left me in the pram at the bottom of the garden underneath an acacia tree.   It was a warm day.  When she came to see if I was all right she saw that I was sleeping.  To her horror she noticed a baby cobra coiled up at the bottom of the pram.  She decided not to move it for fear of her or I getting bitten.  She knew I would be OK if I stayed still, and I was wrapped up.  She stood back a few meters and after about half an hour she watched the snake uncoil itself and slowly slide out of the pram and then wriggle off into the thick grass at the end of the garden.  Fortunately neither of us were hurt because even baby cobras have enough venom to kill an adult, so as a baby I would have stood no chance.

No comments:

Post a Comment