Snake as Security

This was a "guard" snake I kept in an aquarium at my apartment in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Mild mannered, this Honduran milk snake was usually calm, but if he was handled more than a few minutes, he would calmly turn his head and bite the closest object. I got him from a Belgian man in town who kept snakes as pets.

The advantage of a non-indigenous, brightly-colored snake was that no one knew what it was. It was assumed to be extremely dangerous. Everyone was universally terrified of snakes, so this one made a great personal protector.

I let everyone know that I kept snakes. For trips to the field, I took the milk snake in a bag, as pictured above, in a metal trunk that contained the funds for expenses. I would show the snake to the villagers, and then place it in the trunk, to let them know what a risk it would be to try and steal the money. It never failed.