boomslang in the bathroom

The cat sees it first: a snake, a metre long, vivid green, swaying on the blue tiles in the shower cubicle.

"Snake!" I shout, "Nyoka!" (one of the first words I learnt in Shona). I bundle cats, kittens and protesting child into the pantry.

It's a boomslang, a bright green tree snake. I saw one earlier this year just outside my study window, raiding a nest. Boomslangs are highly-poisonous snakes, but they're back-fanged which means they won't strike out at you like say, a cobra will. You're only in danger if you're actually handling the snake.

Still, I'm afraid I subscribe to the general Shona feeling: a snake within the house precincts has to be a dead snake.

Showers will never be quite the same again.