It was a close call 😳
Early last month, a woman in South Africa entered her kitchen and saw what she thought was a patterned scarf nestled on the floor beneath her countertop. Stooping down to pick it up, the woman quickly realized things were not what they seemed.
“[She] saw this odd-looking thing laying in the shadows in the kitchen,” wildlife conservationist Corné Uys told The Dodo. “She bent down to pick it up, only to [realize] it’s not a scarf, but a good-sized puff adder.”
The woman knew the snake needed to go somewhere safe. She quickly got in touch with Uys, who headed to the scene.
Puff adders are highly venomous vipers with triangular heads and yellow-brown coloring who live in grassy areas throughout South Africa. According to Kruger National Park, puff adders feed on small prey, helping to control rodent populations in the area.
Uys suspects this snake wandered over from a nearby nature reserve and slipped in the door looking for a cool place to escape the heat.
The conservationist safely captured the snake and brought him to the mountains of the nature reserve for release.
Back where he belonged, the snake slithered into the grass and trees, his brief brush with humanity safely behind him.
