'I heard the snake breathing'

2006-11-01 17:18

East London - A young Eastern Cape cattle herder is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by what is believed to have been a Lesser African rock python, reported Dispatch Online on Wednesday.

It quoted nine-year-old Luvo Gwedanaeal as saying on Tuesday he and two friends were rounding up cattle at Kubusie village near Stutterheim when the reptile struck.

"Everything just happened quickly. I kicked something in the veld that I thought was cow dung and seconds later felt heat all over my body," he said.

"It was coming from the biggest snake I've ever seen in my life."

The snake coiled around his legs.

"I wanted to cry, but I was afraid that the snake might hurt me so I kept dead still. It seemed like it was wrapping around my body and coming towards my head," said Luvo.

'I left my trousers, shoes behind'

"It was hot and heavy and I was sweating. I was even afraid to look at it. I just heard it breathing. I kept my arms up around my head to protect my face."

One of his friends, Athenkosi Ngalo, 14, began hitting the snake.

"I started beating the snake like crazy. I was afraid Luvo would be killed."

After what seemed like 30 minutes, the snake suddenly relaxed its grip and dropped to the ground with a loud hiss.

Luvo said: "I was left standing only in my underpants. I left my trousers and shoes behind, and we ran to the village."

King William's Town snake collector Morne Venter said the boy probably survived because of the beating the snake received from Athenkosi.

Herpetologist Ian du Plessis said the snake was either a Lesser African rock python or a constrictor from another continent that had possibly escaped from its owner.

- SAPA