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WOW!!!! Great shots of my favourite snake. Thanks Elsa, I enjoyed looking at them.

I was fortunate to have seen one in May 1999 just south of Lower Sabie on the main road towards Crocodile bridge. I manage to get quite close to it and in a very relaxed way it eventually turned around and slithered off into the bush.

I hope that I will see one during my visit to the Kruger towards the end of April.

The snake that got me addicted to snakes

On my recent trip I saw three of them in two days. All juveniles (the biggest one being not bigger than 50cm while the 2nd largest hit the scales at a massive 15cm) but it was still a first for me...

Wow, CS, those are impressive pics for sure,
were they taken in Kruger?

Thanx Elsa
I saw all 3 of them on my recent trip to Pilanesberg unfortunately.
The one I took pix of hooded beacause a jeep rode past it without noticing it (A close call for the snake) ... As it was still in the middel of the road, hooded and looking a bit confused, I took pix of it. A car behind us then hooted at us and drove up next to us. Not realising we were watching a snake he carried on driving and it was quite obvious he wasn't going to stop. With panic my dad started waving his hand out the car window in order to stop the car. Not a smart move since it was a spitting cobra but nevertheless, the car stopped just in time and the snake fled to the grass again.

When they slither away in a hurry, does their hood open up a bit ? We saw a brown snake on the S25, as from the above pics looks the same in colour..it was too quick for me to even think about taking a pic.
When it scattered away it looked like it had a hood...

My brother who is in Hoedspruit bordering on the Kruger Park, for a few days was nearly blinded by a Mozambique Spitting Cobra last night. He was looking for a skottle braai and gas bottle in a kitchen cupboard. He had his whole torso inside the cupboard. Unbeknown to him the Cobra was also there. Unfortunately for him the Cobra spat at him in the eye, luckily it did not bite him. His eye is very swollen and painful. The doctor assures him that all will be well with his eye. The snake was captured by the snake park removed and released unharmed!

Very fortunate! I had one at the entrance to my veranda last year which tried hard to spit at me but for some reason did not. Its mouth was working hard and it hooded up and struck when I moved. I retreated inside the house and rang our rangers who came and dealt with it.

your brother is very fortunate!!!!!

my sister was once spat at by a Mozambique spitting cobra when she was at pilansberg game farm, luckily it only spat at her legs and she survived

hope your brother gets better soon

all the best batmad

Your brother's guardian angels were definitely working overtime!!

I am glad to hear that he was not bitten as these snakes can deliver a nasty bite. Fortunately, eye envenomation very seldom result in serious problems, as long as you rinse the eyes with large quantities of water or any other blunt liquid as soon as possible there after. It is known that in cases where no fluids are immediately available, urine can also be used to rinse the eyes (as a last resort).

These snakes seem to have an endless supply of venom when they spit.

Hope that he feels better soon!!

Well, just a word of warning. If you get out of your car in the KNP where you are allowed to eg. Nkumbe lookout point, and you hear the grass rustle, do not just assume that it is a francolin or so. On Wednesday 21 May 2008, I stopped at the before mentioned lookout point to try and spot some rhinos. Well I was alone and heard the grass rustling, but thought nothing much of it. After the 2nd or 3rd time, I turned around just in time to see a Mozambique Spitting Cobra (±80 - 100cm) come slithering down from between the rocks.

I stood still (had no face or foot protection) and watched moved along, tongue flickering. I then decided to go and fetch the camera. Well, when I got back the snake was gone.?

Looked CAREFULLY and then spotted it again. Took some photos, but none are actually worhtwile posting, especially after the nice pics we have already seen. But will try anyway later on.

So be careful. You are getting out of your car at your own risk!! But lastly, I must admit, a sighting I will never forget!!

I've got to agree with Mfezi on this one. My mom was spat in the face by a Moz Spitting Cobra, several years ago when she was in the bath. (It came up through the loo).

The doc said the immediate total immersion back in the bath probably saved her sight.

Cheers

Hi, please can you tell me what snake this is as i thought it was a black mamba,
but someone said it was a Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Naja mossambica

Shangri-la, as Rusty Justy and I also mentioned in the ID thread, this really is a Mozambique Spitting Cobra.
Some pointers you can use to determine this:
I have had several encounters with Moz Cobras, and the fast way (for me) to ID them is the shape of their head and those “markings” underneath their eyes….have a closer look at head of your snake (especially the scales underneath the eyes) and then compare it with the following photo I took (at my house)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jumbo22/2307390124
or this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jumbo22/328023031/
or this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jumbo22/312040559/

Also, if you look at the neck of your snake…on the side of the neck you can clearly see a part of the bars that a Moz Cobra has on it throat….a BM does not have this.

Don’t worry, many people get confused by these two snakes…although, I can say, once you had a good look at a Black Mamba, you will not confuse it with another snake again.

Having caught many Mozambique Cobra's and seen a fair amount of Mambas you tend to notice things easier.........
The shape of the head(Black mamba has a more elongated head, looking somewhat like a coffin), the scale pattern as well as colouration (Black mamba is far more grey, and has less of a speckled appearance).
The body shape(The mamba is far longer, the cobra is shorter and fatter, the mamba would be (just an eg) 2 metres before it would be the width of a much shorter Cobra)...The orange colouration on the head of your snake also matches the Mozambique Cobra, as well as the bands beneath the upper throat/neck, and the facial patterns..........if you have a look at the photos on this thread, you will notice you're snake looks quite different from the mamba!

Hi
I have just had a look on the internet, to see both the black mamba and Mozambique Cobra.
I can clearly see what you mean about the colours on the underside and neck

He was on the tar road when we see him/her we had the car window open, as we lend out to take our photos, if we had known it was a spitting Cobra I think we may well have tried to take the photos with the window shut

If only we new

Shangra-La