FOR a majority of people, the mere sight of a snake freezes
the blood and sets off panic bells in the brain.
The slithering serpentine movement, lidless eyes and
flickering tongue can be enough to induce a heart attack. Not for Mr Norman
Crooks (67) of Bulawayo.
When others swiftly take any direction that leads away from
the sometimes venomous reptiles, Mr Crooks is happiest going towards snakes.
Armed with skill and a inyanga’s concoction that was
infused into his blood, he has survived dozens of snake bites.
What started as a childhood pastime 60 years ago has today
turned into an income generating project for the Bulawayo-based self-trained
snake handler.
Besides being an unusual and daring experience, snake handling
is a passion, which Mr Crooks developed at a tender age. He has always gone out
of his way to spread awareness about the importance of all animals in the
ecosystem.
At the age of seven, Mr Crooks had his first experience of
catching a snake. He later developed an interest in professionally handling
snakes, which subsequently led to him studying their feeding habits and living
conditions.
Mr Crooks caught his first dangerous snake at the tender
age of 13 and it was a puff adder. It became the greatest moment for his life.
Over the years, he nurtured his passion and consummated his
knowledge before deciding to go commercial 15 years ago. He had realised there was a niche for turning his hobby
into a money-making venture.
He has, however, been doing snake removal services in
Bulawayo for many years free of charge.
Today, Mr Crooks is one of the country’s most experienced
and sought-after snake handlers. He is believed to have the largest snake
collection in Zimbabwe with 60 different species both local and exotic. Mr
Crooks prides himself in being the only snake handler in Zimbabwe with a yellow
anaconda in his collection, which he imported from the United States.
A yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), which is also known
as the Paraguayan anaconda is one of the largest snakes in the world found in
South America. It is non-venomous and kills its prey by constriction.
Anacondas feature mostly in Western movies and National
Geographic television channel documentaries.
Most of the snakes that he keeps at his house in Burnside
suburb are exotic, with a few local ones such as the black mamba, python and
mole snakes. Notably, species which form part of his collection include white
lipped tree vipers, Mexican mountain king snake, Californian king snake, corn
snakes and Uracoan rattlesnakes. Others are gaboon vipers, diamond back snakes,
Pacific rattlesnakes and Dumeril’s boa, a non-venomous boa species found in
Madagascar.
While in most African countries, a snake depicts evil
practices with many people resenting snakes, for Mr Crooks it is, however, a
different story.
“I had my first experience at the age of seven when I
started catching snakes. When my parents realised that I was taking my hobby
seriously, they took me to a local female inyanga and she applied some
substance into one of the veins in my wrist,” he said.
“Snake handling does not necessarily require a special
skill, but the trick is that the handler has to ensure that he or she does not
get bitten as well as ensuring that the snake itself is not injured during the
process of capturing it so that it can be safely released into its natural
habitat.”
Although some snake handlers in the country charge between
US$10 and US$20 for snake removal services, Mr Crook also does it for free as
part of community service.
“There are many tactics when it comes to catching snakes
such as tailing where you hold a hooked stick in your right hand, hook the neck
and immediately catch the tail. I find it safe and also put protective shoes
since snakes mostly bite the lower leg,” he said.
“I have been bitten many times by cobras, puff adders,
night adders and a king brown snake from Australia. However, besides the
infection, the bites have not affected me. Four months ago, part of my finger
tip had to be cut off after I was bitten by a snake in the United States.”
Mr Crooks believes snake handling is actually one of the
unique types of conservation work that often gets overlooked. He said snakes
play important role in terms of preserving the delicate balance in the
ecosystem.
“I have around 60 species both local and exotic. However,
as an expert in this field of snake handling, I have always tried to educate
fellow human beings to preserve reptiles in general, educating them that snakes
like other animal species have a role to play in nature such as curbing rat and
mice infestations,” he said.
Mr Crooks said snake handlers have a role to impart
knowledge to communities on the importance of conserving snakes, particularly
endangered species such as the gaboon vipers, which are highly venomous but
docile. In India they are also being used in developing a cure for cancer.
Anti-venom is also developed from them.
“As human encroachment on rural land increases, snake
populations are decreasing. People kill them at will and some are killed
regularly on the roads where they will be lying to get warmth at night and
during the day. In fact, globally all snakes are becoming endangered,” he said.
He feeds his snakes with day-old chicks, rats, mice,
lizards and frogs and spends about US$500 every month for their upkeep.
Mr Crooks also operates a Victoria Falls-based company
called Snake Pit at Crocodile Farm, which he says used to generate about US$1
500 per month before the outbreak of Covid-19, which affected tourism due to
global travel restrictions.
However, with Government having given the entire tourism
sector green light to reopen, including airports for both domestic and
international flights, Mr Crooks hopes his business will get back on track to
growth. Every year, Mr Crooks takes schoolchildren on an educational tour of
his facility in Bulawayo.
“My organisation is based on educating the public on
snakes, identification of snakes and even handling of snakes. I also train
people to handle and remove snakes from people’s houses in the cities and rural
areas,” he said.
He warned that due to the environmental challenges which
include deforestation, land degradation through mining activities, veld fires
and random killing by human beings, there could be no snakes in the
not-too-distant future.
“The population of snakes is on rapid decrease; some
species are now rare such as pythons and black mambas. Cobras and puff adder
populations are also on the decrease because they are close to human contact,”
said Mr Crooks.
According to Mr Crooks, the deadliest snakes in Zimbabwe
are the black mambas and their neurotoxic venom is extremely potent such that
it paralyses the nervous system causing the lungs to shut down and eventual
leading to death in less than an hour if untreated. Black mambas are big, agile
and aggressive snakes.
He said while snakes are key players in the ecosystem,
their bites can be dangerous and urged snake handlers not to be complacent when
dealing with snakes.
“In some cases, people show worse symptoms to the venom
after being bitten many times. About 20 percent of all humans will get a
serious reaction to snake venom and this is called anaphylactic reaction, which
can kill you in 15 minutes,” said Mr Crooks.
“So, yes, snake handlers must not be complacent when
dealing with snakes because 90 percent of all snakebites, apart from India and
Africa, are people handling or trying to kill them. There are also many
friendly snakes, but they do not like to be picked up like most wild
creatures.”
Mr Crooks said other deadly snakes in Zimbabwe include
cobras and puff adders, which have got cytotoxic venom that destroys body
cells.
“If one is bitten and is not treated immediately, the limb
may be amputated. It is responsible for many snake bites in Africa. Cobras
carry neurotoxic venom that affects the breathing system. These snakes bite the
lower part of the leg. First aid must always be practised when one is bitten by
any snake,” he said.
Mr Crooks said snakes are usually active during summer
because it is their breeding time mostly and also food will be plenty such as
frogs. In the forest, black mambas usually hide in rocks and pythons prefer a
quiet environment. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment