Unwelcome Visitor

We’ve been busy this week preparing for a group of four Americans to arrive. Ellie Hamby is coming, and along with her will be Star Ferguson, Charles Small, and Richard Prather. Wednesday night we decided to get our house ready for company by hanging some wall decorations.

We were in the middle of that job when George Phiri, The Zambian superintendent, stopped by to finalize plans for picking up the group at the airport. As we sat and talked with him, he suddenly stopped in mid-sentence. His eyes widened as he pointed to the floor behind David.

“You have a small snake there,” he said. Sure enough, a black snake about 16 inches long was slithering across the concrete.

David ran outside to find the hoe while I backed off at a safe distance to watch. I wanted to know exactly where the snake went if it was loose in the house! George meanwhile removed his sandal and took aim. He threw once and hit just to the right of the snake. The second blow landed on the left. The third throw was high. The snake was up against the wall by now, coiling and recoiling from each “whop” of a shoe nearby. Finally George’s fourth blow scored a direct hit and the snake coiled for the last time. George retrieved his sandal as David arrived with a shovel. He scooped up the dead snake and took it outside for a hasty burial.

Our guess is that the snake made its entrance by squeezing under the back door. We’ll be figuring out a way to close up that space! George also told us that there are certain bushes that act as snake repellants, so we’re looking to do some snake-proof landscaping. Life in the bush is never dull!