PYTHON!! 28/2/12

My first Python- 23/2/12

Forgive me but the following account has become much longer than imagined but this was a great experience for me and fully deserving of no detail being spared.

Now we have all seen a picture of a python at some point or another. They look like big, sleepy, slow animals. Now, a couple of days ago I’d have concurred with all these adjectives. It is true perhaps that these would be fitting descriptions if the python was left undisturbed. If however you are otherwise inclined (such as my morbid curiosity led me to be) then your going to need some new words. Lets start from the beginning though. ..

What the inside of a pythons mouth looks like without gums

Myself and Busoti were casually strolling along the Eastern ridge of an unnamed mountain about 300/400m above the valley below on one of our safaris. We are about a days walk from our big camp and 4 hours or so from our temporary camp. As were going I spot a good place to get a picture of the valley. It’s a sloping rock face free of trees and as predicted it is a good spot to take a pic. As I’m enjoying the view I scan around subconsciously until my eyes settle on an oddly patterned bit of rock about 7m from where were sitting. Hang on sec now, that aint no rock I ses to me self.  That is a South African Rock Python. Now I’ve been wanting to see one of these for a while now and despite their size they seem pretty hard to find. Its taken me 7 months to find this bugger. Now he aint the biggest there are out there but by no means is he the smallest. This fella is between 6 and 7 feet long (about 2m long) and thick as girls waist at the thickest. The dead one that Simon found 2 months ago was about 14 feet long (4m) and they are known to grow up to 5m long!! Anyway, I point him out to Busoti who immediately stands up and backs away despite the snake clearly being fast asleep. Now there is something you should know. I’ve been chatting myself up to all of the guys saying “If I see a rock python, im gonna catch it” so I was now under a bit of an obligation.. There were a mixture of feelings here. Fear and excitement prevailing mostly. There is a fairly big but innocuous looking python over there and im gonna catch it! Only I knew it wasn’t quite as innocuous as it looked, the teeth on these guys are long and numerous. (see pic of skull from Simon’s dead python). Anyway – push negative thoughts out of head, roll up sleeves, take deep breath, count to 3, approach..

Fast asleep

Has no idea whats about to happen

Busoti has the camera, and there I am, 2m away from now hissing rock python in a very threatening striking posture. I figure im just out of range.. Im waiting for him to turn away so I can get a grip on the safe end. About a minute passes when he decides to make his dash, moving much quicker than I could have imagined. Its now or never! I lunge forward and grab his tail end before he disappeared off down the slope. With great effort I haul him off the awkard ledge and up onto a flat bit and relax a bit thinking the hard part was over. WRONG. Now I thought I was grumpy when I’ve been woken up. Obviously this guy has never had a girlfriend because the moment we were on the flat (his tail in my hand and the rest of him on the ground) he swings his head around and strikes at me with surprising speed. I make an awkward shape as I get my precious parts out of the path of the gaping mouth. He strikes again but this time I know its coming and am out of the way in well in time. This process goes on for what seems quite a while, grabbing him around the neck to put him under complete control is out of the question. Steve Irwin failed to bring out a ‘How to’ video before he went swimming with Sting rays. But that is fine with me, I am quite happy partaking in this little dance until I figure its probably time I should let him be. I let go of him and shocked by his sudden freedom he remains still for a  second or two, then he shoots of into a thick bush. I stand there in awe, shaking a little from the adrenalin watching him go.

Python

Python time

John Travolta - saturday night fever?

Now I feel I should offer a small explanation as to the reasons for my actions. Sadly I’m going to have to disappoint those that agree with me on this. I don’t know why. I do know I got one hell of an experience though. What I will say though is that pythons are quite phenomenal beasts and should be treated with the upmost respect. A pity I didn’t read this first..