Snake bite is an occupational hazard that is very difficult to avoid completely. However,
attention to the following recommendations might reduce the number of accidents.
• Education! Know your local snakes, know the sort of places where they like
to live and hide, know at what times of year, at what times of day/night or
in what kinds of weather they are most likely to be active.
• Be specially vigilant about snake bites after rains, during flooding, at harvest
time and at night.
• Try to wear proper shoes or boots and long trousers, especially when walking
in the dark or in undergrowth.
• Use a light (torch, flashlight or lamp) when walking at night.
• Avoid snakes as far as possible, including snakes performing for snake
charmers. Never handle, threaten or attack a snake and never intentionally
trap or corner a snake in an enclosed space.
• If at all possible, try to avoid sleeping on the ground.
• Keep young children away from areas known to be snake-infested.
• Avoid or take great care handling dead snakes, or snakes that appear to be
dead.
• Avoid having rubble, rubbish, termite mounds or domestic animals close to
human dwellings, as all of these attract snakes.
• Frequently check houses for snakes and, if possible, avoid types of house
construction that will provide snakes with hiding places (e.g. thatched rooves
with open eaves, mud and straw walls with large cracks and cavities, large
unsealed spaces beneath floorboards).
• To prevent sea snake bites, fishermen should avoid touching sea snakes
caught in nets and on lines. The head and tail are not easily distinguishable.
There is a risk of bites to bathers and those washing clothes in muddy water
of estuaries, river mouths and some coastlines.
