Today we had some excitement when gardener Joe discovered a puff adder in the compost. Luckily, local snake catcher Jackie responded to my call and was able to easily extract the animal.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation I recommend calling Jackie Wiese (082 374 9139). She loves snakes and releases all her catches in a safe location. She even gave me and the gardener (who understandably was a bit rattled by the experience) a short lecture on the beauty of snakes to make sure no hard feeling where harbored. An hour later she sent me a video of the happy critter settling in his new home.