The house we now occupy, is more than forty years old and the trees have grown up around it. There is nowhere to put the washing line. I decided to see if I could put it around the back of the house where its fairly sunny and certainly windy.
I always walk fast and I was lucky this guy wasn’t lying in the sun on the steps…
He sort of fell off the wall on the left and slithered into the thorns. I collected my camera and made sure the lens was right out! Ive marked the head…this is one huge snake I decide, but I don’t know what it is. Ive been educated about correctly identifying snakes – don’t just kill them indiscriminately.
Remember, like all good colonials – Ive read RikiTikiTavi…so I look around and can’t see any others. Until I looked closer…oops. Another one (only about 2,5 m long) slithered into the rocks…
He kept his eye on me – and when I returned with the camera, he swung round…
More than four years ago our maid reported a verrry beeg snake. I assumed she mean a metre or two, and guessed a Mozambican Spitting Cobra – we have plenty of those around. I’m guessing she saw this one, and a little shorter than he is now. And yes – he is a very big snake. 
People who are familiar with these snakes recognised him immediately from this image…a coffin shaped head, I’m told is the dead giveaway
It’s strange, for us Africans, snakes turn us all into dancers…I spent the rest of day doing break-dancing. The smallest rustle or hosepipe lying innocently on the lawn sent me off…
In this image, you can sort of see how long this snake is – the rest of his body is still in the thorn scrub!
Frankie Kay Fotos 
Holey crapaboly…I can’t deal with these nyoka’s – especially one this size. Even growing up with them (and tripping over them regularly) has done nothing to alleviate my unreasonable and totally blinding fear of them. Nightmares tonight…
Eish…goosebumps. I still can’t believe you got close enough to take these brilliant photos…I’d have run very very fast for the hills and beyond (let’s be clear – I don’t run…ever)
Yes- they do induce that nighmareish reaction, don’t they? On this occasion, I was perfectly safe, but Im a little worried about the next occasion, when he isn’t on the other side of a deep wall and caught in amongst the sticks and thorns! If he had been lying against the door, he would have fallen on my feet when I pulled it open!
Hope you enjoying the photoblog
If you’re worried about bumping into them again, why not consider calling a snake catcher? Most of them (you should check with them) will catch the snake with no harm to the creature & then release it in a suitable habitat where it is not likely to encounter people.
We did that and the guys are very keen cos the snake is such a large one. My concern is that another will immediately till the space left by this one and it’s clear, he has been around for a long time and knows where to lie, what to keep clear of…We have agreed I’m to keep an eye out for him and call when I get a sighting – of course, it takes 2 hours to get out there from Bulawayo! Ill keep everyone posted. (PS – I can keep a look out through the bedroom windows on that side of the house!)
Lovely post Fankie.
Thanks Stew – it’s a lovely snake
I hate snakes with an absolute passion, sorry to say, and of them all I dislike this one the most. I could tell you some stories of coming across them on my farm in Barberton which would make your hair raise. More importantly their bite is lethal.
Yes – I don’t play with snakes. They give me the shudders too – but I don’t mess with them. I just keep away from them and hope they want to go away – I only took these pics cos I was in a very safe position
Wow how scary…wonderful photographs but if it was me I would still be running…I have the shudders!!
I did break dancing all that day and we spent the next week on the look out on that wall but saw nothing
I am pleased with the photographs, because one hardly every gets a chance to photograph a snake this size in the wild – it is a huge snake and usually you would only see it streaking away! It does give you the shudders doesn’t it? The way it turned and just kept an eye on us! Thanks for the visit and comment