3 days later, Chris and Martin peaked behind a large rock as they were looking at an African Rock Python. It was a big snake, at 9 feet, but this one is just a youngster. Adults can reach lengths of 20 feet, making them Africa's biggest snake. Amber was with them as, but was keeping her distance as the snake could easily make her into a meal if she gets too close.
"That snake sure has a long way to reach adult size, huh, Martin?" Chris said quietly.
"Yeah." Martin said. "Sure would like to do an adventure with them."
"Yeah, but we better get going on this new adventure we just started." Chris said. "Come on."
They then headed off.
2 hours later, the Tortuga stands in the Namib Desert just a few miles from the Skeleton Coast. Their new adventure is to find 7 of Africa's deadliest snakes, and one lives among the sand dunes.
The snake on their list is the smallest, called the Desert Sidewinding Adder. Or the Peringuey's Adder.
It can hide itself under the sand, waiting for prey like lizards to come by. And it's the smallest species of Adder. And like the Sidewinder Rattlesnake, it makes the sidewinding motion.
"Wow, this is like finding a stick in a sand dune." Koki said.
"You're telling me." Jimmy said wiping some sweat off.
As they looked, Amber noticed something close by and went over to it. She sniffs the sand, and her sharp eyes noticed the slightest indentation of the shape of a snake. She then screeches out, and they went over to her.
"What is it, Amber?" Martin asked.
Amber then made a trilling sound turning the indentation as they turn to it.
"Hmm. I wonder..." Chris said.
Then slowly placing his hands in the sand, Chris gently scoops some sand up, and lifts up revealing a Sidewinding Adder. The snake then lunges off his hands and tries to make a getaway.
"Whoa, a Sidewinding Adder!" Martin said.
"Looks kinda cute." Aviva said.
The adder then tries to make a getaway, but Amber got in front of it as it quickly strikes as she backs away from it. And adders are fast-striking.
Chris then nears his finger by the snake's tail, and then it strikes as Chris moved his arm away quickly.
"Whoa, nearly got me." Chris said. "It would definitely be painful if I got bit. Okay, let's see if I can..."
He gently nears nears his left hand near the snake's tail again, but this time the snake strikes and bit as Chris quickly pulls his hand back.
"Ah! He got me!" Chris said.
He then looks at the bite, and saw a scratch on his index finger and looked it was caused by a single fang. Sidewinding Adder have cytotoxic venom, but it's only mild. And fortunately, it's non-fatal to humans.
"Good thing it only causes some pain and swelling." Martin said.
"Yeah, lucky me." Chris said. "Alright, you happy now?" He said to the snake.
20 minutes later, they were back in the Tortuga's HQ room as the big screen showed a Sidewinding Adder and 3 categories of speed, venom and strike.
"Okay, I'd said the Sidewinding Adder deserves 7 out of 10." Martin said. "Fast for a little snake."
The screen showed 7/10 on speed.
"I would say... 4 out of 10 for venom." Chris said. "It's non-lethal to humans."
The showed 4/10 for venom.
"And strike, would be 6 out of 10." Martin said.
The screen showed 6/10.
"That means we give the Sidewinding Adder a total of 17 points." Aviva said as the screen shows a score of 17 for the Sidewinding Adder.
"That doesn't sound like a lot." Jimmy said.
"Maybe, but 80% of African snakes of considered harmless." Martin said. "So, any higher than 10 means the elite."
The next day, they flew 900 miles from the desert to South African scrub.
Which is where they will find snake number#6.
The Rinkhals.
Also called the Ring-necked Spitting Cobra, the Rinkhals is not actually a true cobra. True cobras are in the genus of Naja, and Rinkhals are in the monotypic genus Hemachatus.
They were soon exploring through the area looking for a Rinkhal, and have a face-mask on to protect their eyes when they do find one. Since Rinkhals usually aim for the eyes of an attacker.
Eventually, they did one, but it seems to be dead.
"Hmm, doesn't look injured." Chris said. "I think he's pretending to be dead."
Amber sniffed the snake, and even nudged it. But the seemingly dead snake didn't budged.
"You sure it's not dead?" Koki asked unsure.
"Yeah, some snakes will actually play dead." Martin said. "Here, watch."
Martin then lifts his left foot and nears it at the Rinkhal, his foot nears the snake's mouth. And then suddenly the snake came to life and bites down, luckily the sole of his boot is too thick for the fangs to pierce through.
"Whoa, it is alive!" Aviva exclaimed.
"You're kidding me!" Jimmy said also stunned.
The snake then drops playing dead again.
"Okay, if we walk away a bit, the snake will try to leave." Chris said.
"Come on, let's see what happens." Martin said.
They then walked a few yards away from the snake, and watched for a moment. Then the Rinkhal flips to it's underbelly and tries to make a break for it, but then Chris and Martin quickly rushed forward in front of it. And the Rinkhal then started to show it's true defense.
Which is the snake's equivalent of mace.
The Rinkhal then started spitting venom at them, luckily they still had their masks on so their eyes are shielded as well as their mouths. The Rinkhal even came at them a few times.
"Wow, this snake packs a serious Creature Power!" Chris said.
"Yeah, able to spit venom even if we're 8 feet away." Martin said.
"How does it's work?" Aviva wondered.
"It's in the fangs." Martins said.
Aviva then scans the Rinkhals' head, and a holographic screen appeared showing the snake's fangs, and comparing them to a cobra's.
"Huh. The opening in the fang of the Rinkhals is forward facing and not down like on a cobra's." Aviva said.
The Rinkhals hissed and then lunged, and then this time it quickly slithers off into the bushes.
Later, after cleaning the dried venom off, they were working on the screen as it showed a Rinkhals.
"Okay, 7 out of 10 for speed." Martin said.
The screen showed 7/10 for speed.
"7 out of 10 again with venom." Chris said.
The screen then brought up 7/10 on venom.
"But it didn't look like the best striker I've seen in snakes." Aviva said. "I'd say a 6 out of 10."
The screen brought up 6/10 for strike.
"So that's 20 for the Rinkhals." Koki said as the screen brought the score of 20.
The screen then showed the Rinkhals being moved on top of the Sidewinding Adder.
Later, they flew 300 miles west to find snake number#5.
They looked around the desert as Martin soon found something near a rock.
"Hey, guys." Martin called out. "Look!"
They went over to him, and saw near a small bush and rock was a snake skin.
"Looks fresh." Chris said.
"Looks like a Puff Adder." Martin said looking at the pattern on the skin. "Okay, so the snake who just shed this skin can't be too far away."
Snake number#5 is the Puff Adder. The snake that causes more bites than any other snake in Africa. A powerful cytotoxic venom that can kill the Wild Kratts with a single bite. Not a snake to get bitten by.
They started looking around the nearby area of the skin, and they know that snake can't be too far and would be likely hiding in the shade. Koki then looked around a rock, and noticed something.
"Hey, I think I got something." Koki said.
They then went over to her, and saw a shape curled in between the 2 rocks. Chris then carefully placed the smaller rock down as they soon heard the puffing sound which gives the snake it's name, Amber quickly recognized it and backs away a little.
Soon, Chris was able to poke the snake out from the rock.
"This is definitely the snake of the shed skin, without a doubt." Chris said.
He then gently pulls the snake out completely, and they can even see how well the skin looks.
"It's skin does look nice." Aviva said.
"Yeah, and Puff Adders have amazing camouflage." Chris said. "But they're slow-moving snakes. Moving in a straight line."
"But some of the fastest striking snakes." Martin said. "20 feet per second."
"Maybe a look at the fangs won't hurt." Chris said.
Chris then gently pins the snake behind her head with a snake, and then gently grabs her.
"Here's a flask." Martin said bringing a flask out from his bag. "Looks big enough for the mouth."
Chris then gently placed the snake's lip on the flask, and then she quickly down on the plastic ejecting venom into the flask.
"Whoa." Martin said.
"Well, at least we got a venom sample." Aviva said.
"Hey, there's a 2nd fang behind the right fang." Koki said.
"Oh, she must be getting to replace a fang." Chris said.
"Okay, so with speed." Martin said. "I'd say 4 out of 10." His Creaturepod's screen showed a Puff Adder and 4/10 with speed.
"But a bite is extremely painful and deadly, so 8 out of 10 for venom." Chris said.
The screen showed 8/10 for venom.
"And with 21 feet per second strike, that's worth 9 out of 10." Koki added.
The screen showed 9/10 for venom, giving the Puff Adder a score of 21.
They soon released the snake by a bush close to the rocks, and Martin noticed she was getting hot. And he brought out a water bottle, and started spraying her, and was also drinking the water as well.
"Looks like the spraying water is making her feel better." Aviva said.
Soon, they went to find snake number# 4, the Snouted Cobra. One of the most widely spread snakes in Africa, and one of the most infamous.
They prey on mice and frogs, but they will tackle other snakes, and are even known to cannibalize each other.
The Tortuga flew 500 miles north back to Namibia again, and before long they managed to find a Snouted Cobra, only a juvenile. But it seems more interesting in getting away.
But soon, he turns to them with his hood out.
"Sure is tough for a little guy." Chris said.
"Small but tough." Aviva said.
"Yeah, any cobra will stand it's ground if it can't get away." Martin said. "But I think I'm interesting in finding a bigger one."
"Yeah, me too." Chris said.
Soon, Martin grab's the snake's attention to his left hand and gently touches the cobra on his head.
Shortly later, they hiked further up the valley to see if they can find a bigger cobra before it gets too hot.
"Yeah, that's more like it." Martin said seeing movement ahead.
They then rushed over, and found an adult Snouted Cobra. Appearing to be 5 feet long.
"Now that's an adult Snouted Cobra." Martin said.
Soon the cobra lunges a strike.
"Hey. Behave yourself." Martin said.
"Man, this guy would really be in trouble if he was attacked by a mongoose." Chris said.
"Yeah, that would really be bad-" Martin said.
Then suddenly, the cobra charged with a full strike and lands direct bite on Martin's right index finger.
"Ah!" Martin jerked his arm back in pain. "He got me. He frigging got me."
Minutes later, Martin was being treated with anti-venom, but Martin was stunned that he had his guard off like that.
Snout Cobra venom is neurotoxic, a bite can affect breathing, and if left untreated, it follows respiratory failure and death.
While being treated, they saw that a vein is punctured as well, but it was a slice and not a real injection. So most of the venom was flushed out from the vein.
Chris and Martin have been dealing with snakes since they were kids, but that Snouted Cobra was truly something different. This snake was more of standing and watching, almost like an elderly way. And an earlier replay video showed in slow-mo that when the snake lunged, Martin pulled his hand away out of range, but the snake kept coming and that's when the strike happen.
It's possible that the cobra is a veteran with experience.
2 hours later, Martin was soon back on his feet and into the field.
Luckily, they found the cobra again.
"Okay, the Snouted Cobra gets a 6 out of 10 for speed." Martin said.
A holographic screen on Chris' Creaturepod appeared and with a Snouted Cobra and gets 6/10 for speed.
"I'd say 7 out of 10 for venom." Martin added.
The screen then showed 7/10 for venom.
"And finally 8 out of 10 for that strike." Martin said.
The screen then adds 8/10 for strike. Giving the score of a grand total of 21.
The next, day, they were back in South Africa looking for snake number#3.
They were all out and they wandered through the brush, and soon Chris noticed something by a tree.
"Hey, I got something." Chris said.
With his snake tongs, Chris heads to the tree climbed up a termite mound and up the tree grabbing something. And soon pulls out a green snake, which is the snake they were looking for.
The Boomslang.
An arboreal tree-dwelling snake that hunts chameleons, and is a back-fanged snake that chews it's victim as it injects venom. It's name basically means "tree snake" in Dutch and Afrikaans.
"Whoa, a Boomslang." Martin said. "This is a back-fanged snake."
At the moment, the Boomslang seems relaxed, but it still lash out at any second.
"It's a good thing Boomslangs are not aggressive snakes." Chris said. "A green and tree climbing snake. Now that's my kind of snake."
"Okay, the Boomslang in terms of speed, 8 out of 10." Martin said.
Aviva brought up a holographic screen showing a Boomslang and 8/10 for speed.
"For venom, it's very strong so... 10 out of 10." Martin said.
The screen then showed 10/10 for venom.
"But since it chews it's venom, just 4 out of 10 for strike." Chris said.
The screen showed 4/10 for strike on the Boomslang. Making the Boomslang score 22.
Before long, they were looking for snake number#2. But it's the snake with the longest fangs.
The Gaboon Viper.
They soon arrived in St. Lucia as they looked around in a forest. And as they hiked, they came across a Gaboon Viper swimming across a pool of water.
Chris got into the water, and grabs her by the tail. Luckily, it wasn't striking at the moment. He brought the snake out of the water, and placed her so they could get a look.
"Wow, a Gaboon Viper." Martin said amazed. "That snake has the longest fangs of any snake."
"Really?" Aviva said.
"Yeah, 2 inches long." Chris said. "And not a snake to get bit. And amazing camouflage."
"Yeah, it's a dry leaf pattern." Martin said gesturing to the snake's pattern.
"For a docile looking snake, I'd say 5 out of 10 for speed." Chris said.
"And it's venom is powerful, it's like having your hand in a fire." Martin said. "I'd give it 9 out of 10."
"And it's fast, another 9 out of 10." Chris said.
Martin brought up a holographic screen from his Creaturepod, and showed a Gaboon Viper and 5/10 for speed, 9/10 for venom, and 9/10 for speed. Giving the Gaboon Viper, 23.
That night, they were all sleeping as the next snake which is the last one on their list. But this snake is seriously feared, and is one of the world's deadliest. And they encountered it twice already.
And Africa's largest venomous snake.
The Black Mamba.
The next morning, minus Jimmy they were out looking in the area for a Black Mamba. It was early, so they can find one basking.
And it wasn't long before they found a 10 foot Black Mamba. The snake stood up and shows a small hood, but not as wide as a cobra's.
"Now this is a serious snake." Martin said.
The Black Mamba then bares it's mouth open showing a black mouth. And it was enough for Amber to back away.
"Definitely a snake not to mess with." Koki said.
"Yeah, that black mouth is how it got it's name." Chris said. "1 bite can kill any of us in 20 minutes."
"yeah, and is also the fastest snake." Martin added.
"These guys will sometimes be up in trees as well." Chris said. "So, with speed I'd say 9 out of 10."
Martin brought up a holographic screen from his Creaturepod showing a Black Mamba with 9/10 for speed.
"Potent venom that kills a human in 20 minutes." Martin said. "10 out of 10."
The screen then showed 10/10 for venom.
"And with such a strike, I'd give 10 out of 10." Chris said.
The screen then showed 10/10 for strike. Giving the Black Mamba a near perfect 29.
It was a real adventure, meeting the world's smallest Adder. Faced Africa's deadliest spitter, milked the world's fastest striker, Martin being closed to death door, one of the most toxic snakes from a tree, possibly the world's worst bitter from a pool, and finally got up close and personal with the deadliest of them all.
7 deadly snakes, and 7 very successful finds.
Auhtor's Note:
Earlier today, me and my mom found a young black Rat Snake in my backyard. Possibly 3 feet long, and it went under the deck covering part of the ground.