h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My friend Ruan, with whom I've gone on several nature trips, with lots of what we did featured in Colours of Wildlife, apparenty was bitten by a snake! A Boomslang, no less, a snake with very potent and potentially deadly venom. But boomslangs are a bit reluctant to bite, and with fangs in the rear of their mouths, can't easily inflict a bite on a human. They're adapted to eat birds, which they envenom by chewing at them. So it's strange that Ruan got bitten! I was with him where he was grabbing a huge wild cobra with his bare hands ... cobras being about 50 times more aggressive than boomslangs.

I wonder just how and where it happened. I haven't heard from Ruan himself but was told this by a mutual friend. Apparently he was in hospital and needed two antivenom courses. I hope to soon hear from him ...

So sorry to hear this news!

Please give our best wishes to Ruan from his grateful h2g2 fans!

That is one bad venomous snake but for it to strike, your friend must have nearly stood on it as such, it usually steers clear of humans as such ?
I wish him well! and hope that a "snake bite anti-venom" for that one, has been used fast ?

Thanks Dmitri, Prof! Prof - that's the guy who catches snakes. He was probably either trying to catch it, or handling it after having caught it. Just a few weekends ago I was with Ruan and another couple of snake-catching friends of his. The one, Luke, handled a mildly venomous sand snake and got bitten three times. He shrugged it off. Unfortunately with a boomslang it's not that easy!

I think the anti-venom for the boomslang is something quite tried-and-tested ... it's one of South Africa's best known and most notorious venomous snakes.

I hope to get updates soon.

Ah! I understand Willem
Do they catch them to milk their venom ? for making anti-venom ?

Hi Prof! Well no, not at this outing anyways, Ruan just photographs them. His goal is to get and photo all the reptile species in our province, Limpopo. He wants to write an identification guide for them!

How is he doing Willem ? a full recovery yet ?

Hi Prof! Yes, he told me that he's quite all right now. I do hope he learnt something...

Quick answer is NO!

Photographers want the best picture/s etc possible - life risks come second fiddle.

He'll be cautious, but only to a degree...

Please wish him well though from a Yorkshireman, as without wildlife photographers etc - WE wouldn't learn