Demystifying snakes among Batswana
“Ah, diotse ke dio tsa makgoa tse”, (this is stuff for white people) an onlooker, standing metres away, said in admiration at a demonstration by Dick Tekanyo George, who was holding one of the world’s deadliest snakes, the venomous black mamba, near the river in Maun. And that is the mindset George is on a mission to change, writes Staff Writer THALEFANG CHARLES
Only a few will get to read through this simply because of their fear and/or hate for snakes. It is Setswana tradition that when a snake is spotted, it is killed. The killing is typically an epic show, with wild shouting, heavy weapons, stones, logs and everything thrown at the direction of the snake. If the snake disappears amidst the avalanche of missiles directed at it, people either move or even burn the whole house just to kill any remnants of the serpent.
So, a snake is the only animal that humans either flee or fight when they spot one. But why?
“It is mostly because of tradition and religion,” sums up Dick Tekanyo George, 29, a snake handler and founder of Maun Snake Capture. “In Christianity a snake is depicted as evil, as it was believed to have deceived Eve as told in the book of Genesis.
“Traditionally too, just like the misconception about cats, snakes are regarded as evil.”
George has taken it upon himself to change the snake stereotypes and bring some understanding of the serpents by providing education on the feared reptiles, especially in rural communities.
Holding one of the world’s deadliest snakes, the full grown lightning fast black mamba, George reckons his passion for snakes started during his childhood in Kachikau in the Chobe enclave. This unusual love for serpents, as a boy coming from a small remote village in Botswana, grew out of curiosity.
“I grew up in a community that believed that a good snake is a dead one,” George recalls.
His rather weird love for snakes was then nurtured by nature documentaries on television. While most children watched cartoons, he was fascinated by documentaries on snakes. At school George studied Pipe Fitting and Mechanical Services, which landed him a job at the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).
“A few months into the WUC job, I realised, ‘this is not me’. The salary was good, but I was not happy. So I quit and went for some brush course on snakes with Mike Perry of African Reptiles and Venom in South Africa,” George explains.
He started with Gaborone Snake Relocation at Mokolodi with Shaun Taylor and then decided to bring his skills to the people living next to the wilderness in Maun.
And that’s how he founded Maun Snake Capture, a non-profit organisation.
“I felt that I could do more impact in changing the mindset of my people if they get education on snakes from someone who understands their background and traditions towards snakes.”
The organisation has six volunteers, who include snake handlers, a nurse, photographer and an accountant.
According to George, in the past five months the organisation has relocated 70 snakes from around Maun. These include some of the most venomous ones like Mozambique spitting cobras, black mambas, boomslang, and the nonvenomous pythons amongst others. George says they capture the snakes from homesteads and offices and relocate most of them to the wild, away from people.
They, however, keep some for educational purposes in the community. Some of the snakes they currently have include the Mozambique spitting cobra (Kake ee foufatsang), black mamba (Mokwepa), and Snouted Cobra (Leso-la Mae), and other non-venomous species like the heavy-bodied python (Tlhware) and Brown House snakes.
Maun Snake Capture uses social media, especially Facebook to provide some snake education. In February the organisation hosted a Snake Seminar in Maun, which saw dozens of participants coming to learn about the slithery creatures.
George pleads for funds saying most of their work is done from the volunteers’ own pockets.
“We capture snakes for free if you just call us on 7270042 and are around Maun. We do, however, plead for petrol money because we currently run the organisation from our own pockets.”
George has big dreams for his passion for snakes. He wants to establish a Snake Park that could supply the much-needed venom bank in Botswana and abroad.
They plan to milk venom that would be used to make anti-venom.
“Venom is very expensive. For instance, a 10ml vial of anti-venom could cost in the region of P7,000. And so the government spends so much money to buy anti-venom while we could supply our own venom and save lives and money too, right here in Botswana.”