According to Johan Marais, CEO of the African Snakebite Institute, it was difficult to quantify the number of snake bites, but 12 cases of bites by the little-known Stiletto snake were recorded during the past week (late November to early December).
“I urge farmers to warn children and farmworkers to refrain from picking up small snakes since the chances were good that it could be a Stiletto snake,” said Marais.
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The main snake bite season usually lasted from January to April, but the mainly burrowing Stiletto surfaced during rainy and warm conditions.
Farms provided Stilettos with enough space and food, creating the ideal habitat. The snakes prey on geckos and other small snakes.
Marais said the Stiletto was a small, nondescript snake that averaged 30–40cm in length, dark-brown to blackish in colour and spent most of its life underground.
They usually emerge in the early evening, especially after summer rains and often end up in swimming pools.
Stilettos were often mistaken for mole snakes, he said, even though they did not resemble mole snakes at all.
The danger was their fangs and potent cytotoxic venom.
“If grabbed behind the neck the snake will twist its head sideways with one fang protruding and will stab it into a thumb or finger. If caught at mid-body, the snake will thrash around with its fangs sticking out and the person catching it will get bitten once or twice,” said Marais.
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Stiletto venom was potently toxic to cells, causing immediate pain, swelling, blistering and in many cases severe tissue damage.
This might result in a digit or two being amputated. It was an extremely painful and destructive bite but was not considered potentially lethal. However, there was no anti-venom for this snake’s poison.
The Stiletto snake was common in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo as well as much of North West, and is entering Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern Namibia.
It does not occur in the Western Cape, most of the Eastern Cape and most of Namaqualand.