ii4 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



puff adder is dangerous mainly from attributes of exactly 

 a contrary nature. In Africa it is the most deadly and 

 probably the most widely spread of all the viper tribe. 

 It is handsomely marked in a " carpet pattern " of brown 

 and yellow of varying shades. In shape it is short and 

 thick, slow moving and sluggish by habit. The fangs 

 are unusually long, and the bite very deadly. Owing to 

 its sleepy disposition, the puff adder seldom hears the 

 approach of footsteps ; and, as it enjoys basking in the 

 sun, stretched at full length across a footpath, the danger 

 of accidentally treading upon it is considerable, if a 

 sharp look-out is not kept. When roused, and frightened 

 or angry, it can strike with the speed of lightning, the 

 blow being delivered more or less sideways. It also likes 

 to creep into sheltered corners for warmth, and some- 

 times is found sleeping in the folds of blankets and 

 clothes in camp. 



These vipers take no inconsiderable toll of both domestic 

 and wild animals, possibly more than any other kind 

 of snake. When camping out one cold night in June, 

 a favourite Irish terrier, seeking a warm corner to curl 

 himself up in, unluckily chose the winter quarters of one 

 of these brutes, and was bitten in the head. I did not 

 discover what had happened until the morning, when 

 it was too late to save him, though he lived all that day 

 Another time two donkey foals were bitten in their pen 

 one moonlight night, by a puff adder, which, presumably, 

 they had curiously sniffed at as he was making his way 

 across. One was already dead when found in the morning, 

 and the other expired in the course of the day. A puff 

 adder often hangs on and worries after having inserted its 

 fangs, and, though the action of the venom is slower than 

 that of mambas and cobras, the depth of the wounds renders 

 them difficult of treatment. Puff adders do not lay eggs. 



