On snakes. And a very special herpetologist

I don’t have a phobia about snakes but I do have a very healthy wariness of them. In that, I guess, I’m normal. I grew up in Africa and now I live in South East Asia so I’ve met a few.

Judy the fox-terrier joyfully brought my family a series of them — all thoroughly dead and of the harmless variety — but my first, heart-pumping encounter with those not-so-harmless was one with a puff adder.

I was about fourteen and sauntering along the path down the hill to the bottom stables at Teviotdale Riding School, north of Harare in…