A Ladysmith mother saved her one-month-old baby from the deadly Mozambique Spitting Cobra.
A mother protected her one-month-old baby from a Mozambique Spitting Cobra at her home in Colenso, near Ladysmith, last night (March 8).
Mozambique Spitting Cobras are considered one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. Its venom is about as toxic as the American Mojave rattlesnake, considered the world’s most venomous rattlesnake. Like the rinkhals, it can spit its venom.
Its bite causes severe local tissue destruction (similar to that of the puff adder) and venom to the eyes can also cause impaired vision or blindness. The venom of this species contains postsynaptic neurotoxin and cytotoxin. There have been only a few fatalities resulting from bites of this species but survivors are mostly disfigured.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, had finished breast-feeding her baby and had placed the baby on the couch. She saw the snake next to the couch, grabbed her child and screamed for help.
Before they could get away, the cobra spat venom in their direction but the mother bravely shielded her baby from the snakes poison, absorbing the blow with her eyes.
Family members rushed to the woman’s aid and called Emergency services to transport her to the hospital. The woman is currently still in hospital but stable.
The damage the mother suffered is still unclear, but the baby wasn’t harmed at all during the incident.
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