If you were in Cameroon you must have either seen or heard about the Gabon Viper (and its cousin the Rhinocerous viper). Those two snakes, together with the Puff Adder, are my favorite African nightmares (apart from the hippo ...I have a very interesting hippo encounter story btw). The Gabon/Rhinocerous/Puff are heavy slow snakes, even though they have one of the fastest snake strikes in the world, with huge fangs (the Gabon has the longest fangs of any snake), totally invisible to the eye (in foliage Gabon vipers and Rhinocerous vipers are literally invisible), and have copious amounts of very nasty hemotoxic/cytotoxic venom. A really horrible way to die as your cells swell and breakdown, making you look like a balloon, with enough pain to make one laugh. I'd take a Mamba any day ...it will probably try to get away unless I am messing around with it (and I know enough about snakes to know which ones not to mess with), and were it to bite me and I am far from medical help I will simply stop breathing as the neurotoxins shut down my nervous system and go to sleep. A Gabon viper or Rhinocerous viper, on the other hand, will be hell on earth.
Nearly! I was over the tailgate when it shot by so fast I barely got a glimpse!
Was hospitalized for a considerable period of time and apparently it was only repeated blood transfusions which saved his life.
Cheers!
Along with albino Diamondbacks, my friend/feeder supplier/snake breeder has Gaboons.
Beautiful things....viewed from outside their enclosures.
He has a tub full of Gaboon fangs.
Impressive things.