Snake!

This is a puff adder, one of Africa's most poisonous snakes.

He was crossing the road about 30m from our house when we spotted him.

I know it is a puff adder, because when I found one outside our house a coupe of years ago, I phoned a friend, described him and got the following advice; "Be careful and make sure you're affairs are in order, if you get bitten, you won't make the hospital."

Thankfully, they are quite lazy and tend to like basking in the warm shade. People that get bitten usually don't spot them in time and stand on them by mistake; they are very well camouflaged and can be incredibly hard to see in the semi shadows. Then, the usually slothful asp earns its reputation as one of the fastest strikers in the world and all hell breaks loose in the rush for help and anti-venom vaccine.

This chap was about 1.5m (5 feet); one of the biggest I've seen. He also looks quite fat around the middle, a sure sign he has eaten recently.

Canon PowerShot G10