Help to please identify this snake

[barbed_wire_dove]

More people tend to get bitten by snakes when they are trying to chop them with a shovel anyway...
I definately understand why your grandma freaked out, i come from a farming background too and thats just what people do, the common belief is snakes = bad.
Though i hope you let your grandma know that next time she would be safer to walk away and ring someone who can remove the snake safely, that little fella didnt need to die.
Though Im glad shes ok and didnt get bitten all the same.

 

[Tashy]

No human stupidity here, like oreo1 and stretch101 said, human instinct. better a snake die than my grandmother.. human life is by far more valuable than any animal, no questions asked.

Ive warned my neighbours too who have small children that we found this very dangerous snake in the garden. i find it ridiculous that some of you would even question this.

tough luck for the snake for burrowing in our yard and not staying in the quiet uninterupted bush land where it came from. i count the lucky stars she didnt get bitten when her hand went to pull out the weeds it was living in.

all of those that helped me identify this snake, thank you. i greatly appreciated your advise!

 

[waruikazi]

No human stupidity here, like oreo1 and stretch101 said, human instinct. better a snake die than my grandmother.. human life is by far more valuable than any animal, no questions asked.

Ive warned my neighbours too who have small children that we found this very dangerous snake in the garden. i find it ridiculous that some of you would even question this.

tough luck for the snake for burrowing in our yard and not staying in the quiet uninterupted bush land where it came from. i count the lucky stars she didnt get bitten when her hand went to pull out the weeds it was living in.

all of those that helped me identify this snake, thank you. i greatly appreciated your advise!

I hate this excuse. I got it just about every call when someone wanted me to identify a snake they just killed. "There are children in this area dammit! I am protecting them! Cause i am a MAAAAN!!!"

There is only one way to get bitten by a snake. That is by interferring with it. There are two ways of interferring with it, deliberately and accidentily. To accidently interfere with a snake you generally step on one without noticing it, snakes don't like getting trampled so they generally get out of the way when they hear a larger animal coming. Now to deliberately interfere is usually trying to catch or kill a snake and the poor thing is more often than not trying to flee. This accounts for far more bites than stepping on one by accident. I got an average of two calls a month of people asking me to identify a snake they caught/killed because it bit them.

Now why am i ranting like this? I hear you ask me. well that is for the simple reason that children learn through example. If they see their elders and their peers killing snakes instead of simply walking away or staying still the chance of them getting bitten increases dramatically no matter how many snakes are in the area. So maybe no stupidity but theere certaintly was at minimum ignorance.

So, Tashy, that is the best advice anyone can give you and your old lady. Lead by example and keep youreslf safe. If you truley care about the welfare of your family and neighbours you will encourage them to not attempt to kill any snake under any circumstances and to call a licenced snake relocator.