wildtuinman wrote:
Experts, please correct me if I am wrong.
Not many non-snake people knows this, but there are only 4 snakes in SA that can "spit" (squirting it out thru the hollow opening in its fangs) their venom.
They are:
Mozambique spitting cobra.
Black spitting cobra.
Rinkhals.
Zebra snake.
Hi WT
I’m no expert, but I have a great book
According to “A Complete Guide to the snakes of Southern Africa” by Johan Marais, the only two SA snakes that actually spit, are the Moz Cobra and the Rinkhals.
The Black-necked Spitting Cobra, the Black Spitting Cobra and the Zebra Cobra, do not actually “spit” their venom but rather squirt it, although the word “spit” is commonly used…..and they can do this “squirting” for 2 or more meters. As the Moz cobra, they can also “spit’ from any position, even when concealed in a rock crevice.
These three snakes are all subspecies of Naja nigricollis. Only one of the three is found in SA, the Black Spitting Cobra (the Zebra Cobra is found in Namibia). For many years the Black Spitting Cobra was believed to be a black variety of the Cape Cobra. It is listed as rare in the SA Red Data Book and found in the dry western parts of SA.