In Africa, danger creeps through houses and fields

Such snakes are giants. A black mamba can stretch to 14 feet, and the longest king cobra ever recorded was 19 feet.

In contrast, the puff toppings are petite, as short as six inches and not more than six feet long, but very chunky. Have long, retractable fangs which can deliver poison to the muscles.

Their venom destroys blood clotting factors, and victims die a snail-paced, gruesome death. bleeding in the brain, eyes and mouth.

Identifying the attacker may support tailor treatment. However, many people never see a snake biting them, or if they do, they are unable to identify it. To the untrained eye, venomous snakes may look indistinguishable from harmless ones.

The names don’t make things easier. Green mambas are green, but black mambas are delicate gray to obscure brown; they are so named because the inside of the mouth is black. They are better recognized by their coffin-shaped head and disturbing smile.

Some scientists do building AI models to identify snakes so that anyone with a smartphone can distinguish them.

About one third of snake bites occur in children. They occur less frequently in pregnant women, but results — which include instinctive abortion, placental rupture, separation, fetal malformation, and death of both mother and fetus — may be disastrous.

Farmers are often the victims. The loss of a breadwinner destroys families.

Ruth Munuve’s husband worked as a driver in Nairobi and came to the family farm every other weekend. He was bitten on a Saturday in April 2020, at the age of 42, as he walked through the bush on his way home from a night out.

Two hospitals trying to treat Covid-19 patients turned him down. When he died two days later, his body had swollen and doubled in size, a sign of a French adder bite, said his sister, Esther Nziu.

Ms Munuve currently grows maize and cowpeas, mainly for food, and sells green grams. Mrs. Nziu has five children of her own, but tries to support raise her brother’s four children.

There is no money, but women still pay to strengthen their homes. “I don’t want anyone else to get bitten by snakes,” Ms Nziu said.