Subadult Female Boomslang rescued near Sea Point (2017-01-22)

This Boomslang was hiding behind the pump system for a water feature in Sea Point, but luckily it was boxed in and I was able to capture it fairly easily.

Note how even though this is a very dangerous snake, it tried to escape the moment it saw an opening - no snake will ever try to chase or attack you unless you’re doing something that makes it feel threatened.

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Boomslang are known for their strikingly large eyes - the largest of any African snake. Females are light to olive brown with dirty white to brown bellies, whereas males may have a variety of colors.

Shy and diurnal (active during the day), they spend most of their lives in trees and shrubs where they hunt eggs, birds, frogs, chameleons, and other tree-dwelling lizards.

Boomslang venom is haemotoxic, which means that it affects the clotting mechanism in blood and leads to severe internal and external bleeding, or even haemorrhage if untreated. Although potent, the venom is slow-acting and may take more than 24 hours to produce serious symptoms - an effective anti-venom is available in some locations.

There are two common myths about the Boomslang: firstly, that they drop from trees onto people who walk by (they don’t), and secondly that because they’re rear-fanged they can only bite you on your little finger (they are rear-fanged, but can open their jaws 170 degrees and bite you almost anywhere on your body).

Find out more about this species here.