Don't sleep, there are vipers

Two days ago, Natsumi – Master student at KUPRI researching on mother-infant relationships in Kalinzu chimpanzees showed me a video of a massive rhinoceros viper! The latter was crossing the path while Natsumi was observing the chimpanzees. Bitis nasicornis is flat and large like its close relative, the Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica). Its skin patterns are, however, more colorful and geometrically different than B. gabonica. In addition, it owns two distinctive small horns at the extremity of the head. One bite and a lot of pain later (due to the hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom), your heart might just stop beating. Encounters are apparently frequent in Kalinzu forest. But, it has been almost a week that I’m here and so far, I haven’t seen any…