The beautiful boomslang
The boomslang – as its name suggests – is a mostly arboreal snake, identified by its large eyes, sturdy head and strongly keeled body scales. ( This means that its scales have a ridge down their centre, making the snake rough to the touch.)
It varies in colour depending on where you are. In the Western and Eastern Cape, males are usually dark grey to black, with yellow, orange or green sides; while females are brown in colour. Elsewhere in southern Africa, males are sometimes bright green – often with black between the scales, which gives a chequered effect; while females are mostly brown. Juveniles shorter than 80 cm in length are never green, but rather a grey to grey-brown colour with big emerald eyes.
The boomslang is hands down one of the most venomous snakes in Africa. Its venom is potently haemotoxic – this means it disrupts the blood-clotting mechanism in the body, which can result in uncontrolled bleeding many hours after a bite.
In humans, the first symptoms appear anything from four to 30 hours after a bite and they are quite gruesome. It might start with a nosebleed, developing into a splitting headache, bleeding from the mucous membranes and eventually bleeding from all orifices as well as the lungs and kidneys. Whereas a mamba needs around 15 mg of venom to inflict a lethal bite on an adult, the boomslang needs only 0.07 mg. This is so little venom that it’s not even visible to the naked eye. Considering how dangerous its venom is, it’s fortunate that the snake itself is one of the most docile in South Africa, and very seldom bites people. It spends its time in trees and shrubs, searching for nesting birds, rodents, and lizards like chameleons.
When aggravated, the boomslang inflates its neck and the front third of its body, exposing the skin between its scales. It will then strike with intent. However, it prefers to escape, which it will do by quickly going up a tree and moving fast through the canopy.
Sometimes a boomslang will descend to the ground to bask. It’s during these moments that you should be especially careful not to step on it. It’s a popular myth that this snake, being backfanged, cannot easily bite and must get hold of a small finger. Not true!
But there’s no need to panic. Boomslang antivenom, although rarely used, is very effective.