African Wildlife & Environment Issue 82

GOOD READS

greatly feared on the farm where I grew up, and used to run around barefoot with my younger brother and our companions.We had a few close encounters with “puffies”, but none of us were ever bitten. Johan Marais tells us that the Puff Adder, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Common Night Adder and Bibron’s Stiletto Snake accounts for most serious snakebites in South Africa. Back to the book: the first page of the Puff Adder entry has a photo of the whole snake, a panel on the right with HIGHLY VENOMOUS in red, a distribution map, a pictogram showing the size of the snake relative to a human, habitat, and nocturnal/ diurnal (or both). The description is followed by Behaviour (“A slow-moving, bad tempered and excitable snake that may hiss or puff when disturbed”), Food and Feeding, Reproduction, Danger to Humans, and Venom.The third page has a box with KEY FEATURES and another box called FIRST-AID PROCEDURES.

The book is a pleasure to use, the photographs are outstanding, and the whole package exudes the kind of quality that is the hallmark of the Struik Nature productions. This publication will be much appreciated by many who are interested in reptiles, and see snakes as part of the wonder of our living planet, rather than evil creatures that must be killed on sight. Regrettably, the latter view is rather prevalent in Africa, and this fine book could go a long way to make the world a safer place for snakes and humans.

THE WONDERS OF DESERT L IFE : A COMPELL ING, IN-DEPTH READ THE LIVING DESERTS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA Barry Lovegrove

A DEFINITIVE NEW EDITION OF A CLASSIC AVAILABLE AT LEADING BOOKSTORES NATIONWIDE & ONLINE

Join the Struik Nature Club for online talks and events, special offers, prizes and upcoming natural history publications: www.struiknatureclub.co.za

6 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 82 (2022)