The other day I took Calli and Andrew’s dog, Hunwick, for a walk. We went to the golf course and as we walking down the road that leads out of it I noticed Hunwick locked onto to something in the grass and was slowly heading toward it. As I stared in the same direction and thought to myself “hmmm that look a little bit like a snake”. A second later I was quickly pulling the dog back towards me before it reached the head of the maybe snake. And indeed it was a snake.
From my internet research I think it’s a Rhinoceros Horned Viper. (Still need to double check with someone who would know for sure) Venomous, but pretty timid, luckily for us. Keeping a safe distance (and trying to hold back the dog that wanted nothing more than to get the snake) I watched it cross the road and head into the jungle. Pretty cool.
The viper is a Nose-horned Viper (Bitis nasicornis). It is very venomous, but fortunately relatively uncommon in Yenzi (where I lived 8 years, dealing among others with snakes-humans relationships…). You can see more photos of this species in Gabon in a paper published two days ago (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317953158_Miscellanea_Herpetologica_Gabonica_IX) and co-signed by DR, another inhabitant of Yenzi you probably met…
Thanks Olivier for the correct information and the article! Very nice to read your work and learn more about the species of Gabon. They’re beautiful snakes and I always found it a pity that so many of the snakes that came near the houses in Yenzi were killed instead of being moved further away.