The Man Who Survived a Mamba Bite – Silence Masuku

Some time ago I was visiting Hoedspruit Reptile Centre with family and whilst there met one of the curators. His name was Silence and he was so wonderfully enthusiastic. We had a super chat and this is a shout out to Silence and the many other uncelebrated people out there, making a difference every day, in all sorts of ways.

Silence – I believe that you are an inspiration and I hope that others will follow in your footsteps.

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Photographs supplied by Trish Scaife and Hoedspruit Reptile Centre.

2022: An update on Silence surviving a Black Mamba bite

The other day my boys were at a camp at the Reptile Park and came back full of the exciting news that one of the guys that they had been with had been bitten by a Black Mamba – but was still alive!

Which I think you’ll agree is pretty amazing and not something you hear very often. So I followed up with Jess and Chris from Hoedspruit Reptile Centre and here is more of the story!

At the end of last year, Hoedspruit Reptile Centre’s Curator, Silence Masuku, had a brief and unfortunate interaction with a black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). Given the nature of the work done at the Centre a bite is something we always consider, prepare and plan for but hope to never actually have to act on. Thanks to strict protocols, the incident was handled smoothly, and Silence arrived in hospital within twenty minutes making a full recovery and returning to work merely four days later.

When asked how he feels about working with snakes now Silence said “I am not scared, I know the true nature of snakes and they are not out to hurt you”. Whilst the Centre, wishes to never again have to put its procedures to the test, the management of Silence’s incident went exactly how it should have gone. We strongly urge, any person, organisation or entity working with or near snakes to consider setting up such protocols, they may just make the difference in such serious circumstances.

How did you come to work at Hoedspruit Reptile Centre?

When I was in high school I caught a snake at school which was dangerous because back then I didn’t know what snake it was or even whether it was venomous. I’ve always liked snakes so a lot of people advised me to come and volunteer here at the Reptile Centre. I called here and asked for an interview. And once I finally got it I ended up volunteering for a full year.

Why did you catch snakes, for fun? Or to get them out of people’s houses?

Normally I was just getting the snakes out of the local school classrooms, so that other students didn’t kill them. So, I don’t know why but it was just like an instinct for me to save them.

So basically you’re saying that you’ve always liked snakes?

Yes

How old were you when you caught your first snake?

I was 16 or 17, and as I said it was in a classroom at school. People were panicking. I rescued a snake that had just eaten a frog. They wanted to kill the snake and I said no, don’t do that. I managed to catch the snake and put it over the fence so that it could go back into the bush. Now I know it was a brown house but I didn’t know back then!

I remember there was this time I was at home and my neighbour was having a big party and they found a large python. They called the police who came with a gun and they shot the gun, they shot the Python, just killed it! I couldn’t understand it, people were standing there clapping hands. I was the only one just crying. Why? Why were they killing the snake? So actually, I always knew I wanted to work with snakes. So that in my community, I can be the one who’s rescuing snakes and other animals like that.

So you finished matric and then you came and volunteered at Hoedspruit Reptile Centre for a year, after which they brought you on as staff?

Yes, but only for six months because at that time they didn’t have any placement for me, but they wanted me to help them with the snake wrangling while the TV show, “I’m a Celebrity – Get me out of here” was being filmed in Swadini. I was the one taking care of the snakes – I had more than 150 different snakes. There were 70 something corn snakes, five pythons, some Taiwanese rat snakes and various other snakes.

Once filming finished thought, I didn’t have a job. I stayed at home for about two months and then the former boss Donald Strydom called me back to come and work here.

So you’ve been working for Hoedspruit Reptile Park since 2015.

Yes but there was a year or 2 where I stopped working again just because there was not enough work.

And now you are a curator here – what does that mean?

I’m the one taking care of the reptiles. I haven’t managed to study any further, I’ve learned everything I know right here. They taught me everything. Everyday I learn on the job.

A lot of people tend to believe that looking after snakes will be the most difficult thing or the most difficult job to do. Actually snakes are the easiest job to work with because snakes don’t eat everyday like mammals, they normally eat only once or twice a week. And they don’t chase people, they don’t chase people, snakes, a lot of people tend to believe that snakes chase people. Snakes will only defend themselves if they feel that they’re under threat. So this is like, I think, one of the easiest job in the world!

I’ve seen that you do some community work?

Yes. There is a programme running called SECAP where we go into rural areas to teach children about snakes. How to identify them, what the venom does, what to do if they get bitten – that sort of thing.

And how is it going?

COVID has delayed certain aspects of the project but I am very excited that soon we will be able to get more involved with schools and communities.

What would you like to do in the future?

Here, I’m in my comfort zone and I’d like to get out of it. So I’ll say, my dream job will be to work in Jozi zoo – even if only for one year. Definitely with snakes! I’ll go crazy without snakes, I just love them yeah, I just love them.

Alright, so who’s your favourite snake here?

Actually I can’t have a favourite snake. It’s not because of my boss. No, I told myself a long time ago I can’t have a favourite because if I have a favourite snake, I’m going to neglect the other ones. So everyone’s my favourite.

More about SECAP

SECAP stands for the Snake Education and Community Awareness Programme which is a joint collaboration between a USA based international conservation group called Save the Snakes and Hoedspruit Reptile Centre – both of whom partially fund the programme.

Save the Snakes is a non-profit organisation that helps to fund conservation initiatives around the world that are based on snakes.

Hoedspruit Reptile Centre is extremely proud that their offices for the whole of Africa are now based here with them.

SECAP’s objective is to go into communities where people don’t have access to information about snakes.

Using locally trained individuals such as Silence, SECAP is a multi-faceted, mobile programme aimed at

teaching communities about snakes,
promoting awareness about the antivenom bank at Hoedspruit Reptile Centre, and
making antivenom available to people that need it
upskilling local medical staff to manage snake bites
strengthening relationships with entities such as Tsintswalo

It also includes a snake rescue programme – training locals to catch and relocate snakes – as opposed to just killing them.

SECAP is a long term programme with a 5-10 year goal. The aim is to create a formula for mitigating human – snake conflict, and then replicating this around Africa.

If you find a snake...

…somewhere that it shouldn’t be, or somewhere that you REALLY don’t want it – please DON’T kill it. Rather give the Hoedspruit Reptile Centre a call on 064 516 7439.

Read about others that inspire us and keep an eye out for a new profile every week, where we celebrate the men and women who love, enjoy and ultimately help to protect our wild spaces!

They remain our inspiration and our hero(ines). And if you’d like to be featured, or know of someone we should feature, please email

trish(at)trailfood.co.za