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This page is dedicated to what to check before a trip as well as what to take
along. it covers Vehicle, Recovery and tools,
Camping equipment and First
Aid. Please note that these lists are meant as a guide only. Vehicle and Tools:
This list is basic and does not include prescription medication
4x4 Natuurlik: Ons speel lekker in die “Bundu’s” en vergeet
maklik van moeder natuur se gediertetjies wie se woonplek dit nou eintlik is.
Jou voertuig sit bietjie vas en daar word gou gegryp na ‘n klip of ‘n stuk
stomp om te help. Onder daai klip of stomp lê daar dalk ‘n skerpioen en wag
vir ‘n niksvermoedende prooi. In jou oorhaastigheid om jou voertuig te verlos,
was die dra van handskoene agterwee gelaat. As jy nie die outjie betyds sien of
jou hande vinnig genoeg uit die pad uit kry nie, gaan jy ‘n minder aangename
herinnering opdoen. Ek het met ‘n toergids gepraat wat ‘n ontmoeting gehad
het met ‘n skerpioen tydens ‘n toer, en dit omskep toe die toer in ‘n baie
lang en onaangename ervaring. Hulle kamp altyd by ‘n spesifieke boom, en dit
is al tradisie om met hulle aankoms ‘n bottel wyn oop te maak en die kurk in
die boom se massiewe mik te sit, net bokant kop hoogte. In die proses het
skerpioen se kind hom in die hand gesteek.
Suid Afrika het ‘n redelike groot verskeidenheid
skerpioen-spesies, maar gelukkig is die meerderheid nie fataal giftig vir mense
nie. Daar is slegs 1 tot 4 sterftes per jaar, en gewoonlik is dit kinders.
Skerpioene met groot knyper lyk baie meer
vreesaanjaend. Skerpioene met groot knypers maak meer staat op hul knypers as
die gif in hulle sterte. Hul gif is feitlik skadeloos vir die mens, byvoorbeeld
die Hadogenes
paucidens of rots-skerpioen.
Die outjie word tot 21cm lank en sy knypers
Skerpioene met klein knyper en groot sterte (in verhouding) is hoogs
giftig
Skerpioene met groot knyper en klein sterte
(in verhouding) is matig tot effe giftig.
Hoe
om ‘n skerpioen steek te voorkom
Wat
gebeur as jy deur ‘n skerpioen gesteek word Die volgende
Die
erns van die steek word bepaal deur verskillende faktore soos byvoorbeeld:
Wat
om te doen as jy deur ‘n skerpioen gesteek word?
With
the last tree-cut weekend, some of use discovered that we were covered with a
huge amount of unwanted minute small guests – ticks. They were so small that
it was difficult to remove them and we ended up using tea tree oil as repellent
to get rid of the little buggers. Spending time in nature, this is not uncommon,
and I decided to give more information about tick-bites and tick bite fever. The
tick-bite itself is usually painless and it doesn’t itch. Tick
bite fever or Rickettsia (Rickettsia is a genus of non-motile, gram-negative,
none spore forming, highly pleomorphic bacteria) is caused by bacterial
infection transmitted by ticks. This condition occurs in many areas of the world
and is often known by a variety of names. In Africa, Mediterranean and The
organism that causes tick bite fever belongs to the Rickettsial family of
bacteria. As can be seen from the table, there are a number of different species
of Rickettsias. These
organisms are relatively small – about 2/1000ths of a millimetre long – and
are only able to survive inside cells. They are found in certain wild and
domestic animals, and ticks acquire the organisms when they feed on these
animals. When
the tick bites a human, the bacterium is transmitted in the saliva. The bacteria
can also be transmitted from ticks to their offspring when still in the egg
stage i.e. the Rickettsiae infect the eggs of the tick and thus infect the
offspring. In
various parts of the world, different species of tick and Rickettsia are
involved in causing tick-bite fever, and these forms of the disease are also
given different names (see table). How
do you get tick bite fever? Being
bitten by a tick is one way, but if you crash a tick on your skin, the
rickettsias may be able to enter through a small abrasion. Being bitten by ticks
usually occurs in rural or wilderness areas i.e. when you are out camping,
hiking in long grass etc. The ticks that are able to harbour the organism belong
to either the Amblyomma (Bont tick), or the Rhipicephalus(Kennel ticks or
bruinhondebosluis) family of ticks. The Amblyomma ticks actively seek out humans
to feed on, while Rhipicephalus ticks tend to lie in wait on grass, and will
bite you if you walk past.
Not
every tick bite will result in tick bite fever, but should you get infected with
tick bite fever, the incubation period (the period between being infected and
displaying symptoms) is about five to seven days. Symptoms can vary, depending
partly on the organism involved. Your age and underlying health may also
influence the severity of the infection.
Typical
features may include the presence of a black mark where the bite occurred, and
fever, severe headache and a rash. The black mark at the site of the tick bite
is called an eschar (or a tache noir), and looks like a small ulcer (2-5mm in
diameter) with a black centre. It may look something like a spider bite. The
eschars can be single or multiple and can sometimes be very difficult to find.
The eschar usually appears once the fever appears, as does the headache and
malaise (general feeling of ill-health). Lymph nodes near the eschar may be
enlarged. A
rash is usually, but not always, a feature of tick bite fever (it is supposedly
less likely to occur in someone infected by R. africae), but when it is present,
it consists of small red marks on the skin, sometimes raised slightly above the
surface. It typically starts on the limbs and spreads to the trunk, and can
involve the entire body, including the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
African
tick bite fever is usually mild, and death and serious complications are very
uncommon. This
is in contrast to Rocky Mountain spotted fever (In the USA), which is usually a
more severe illness. Complications include encephalitis (inflammation of the
brain), pneumonia and damage to the brain and heart. Because
the organism lives inside cells, it is very difficult to culture it in a
laboratory, and this isn’t routinely offered as a diagnostic test. However,
your body makes antibodies (proteins that attack invasive substances or
organisms) to the bacteria, and these can be looked for in the laboratory. These
serological tests are the main method of confirming a diagnosis of tick bite
fever. However, sometimes the tests only become positive after a couple of
weeks, so while they may help to confirm a diagnosis, they are not always
immediately helpful early on in the infection. If you have typical symptoms of
the infection, and a history of possible exposure to ticks, your doctor may
decide to treat you before results of the serological tests are known. How
is tick bite fever treated? In
some cases where the form of tick bite fever is mild and self-limiting, you may
get better on your own without specific treatment, but this can take up to two
weeks or even more. Antibiotics treatment can shorten the duration of symptoms
and reduce the chance of a serious side-effect. In severe cases, antibiotic
therapy is more important, and can be life saving.
How
to remove a tick:
Thank
you to Andre Lourens from Onderstepoort Biological Products for this article
about snakes. Snakes
Andre Lourens Whenever
the word snake is mentioned, it brings fear to most people due to many myths
that are still believed. Some people
see the only best snake is a dead snake where other people will say that not all
snakes are venomous. So now the
question arises how can the lay person determine whether a snake is venomous or
not? Some people will catch the
snake and examine its mouth for fangs. This
method may have serious consequences and complications if the person is bitten
and it was indeed a venomous snake. So,
is there a specific characteristic that can be used to determine if a snake is
venomous or not. The answer will be
no. If any snake is just lying still
on the ground, it is basically impossible to determine whether the snake is
venomous or not unless it is identified positively.
Some groups of snakes have however developed mechanisms to give a
warning. The cobras that will rear
up and spread a hood. Or in general,
the adders are short and heavy bodied snakes with a more or less flat triangular
shaped head.
Snouted Cobra
Then
there are the Boomslang and Vinesnake that will inflate their throats to make
them look more dangerous. But not
all snakes (eg Spotted Bushsnake) that inflate their throats are venomous.
Then some completely harmless species (eg Rhombic Egg Eater) will display
extremely “aggressive” behaviour that can be confused with an adder and are
then killed unnecessarily. Vine snake Puff adder Now
with the above said in mind, what one should do when a snake is encountered in
the field while camping or changing a tyre for that matter.
The most important will be not to fool around with the snake or try to
catch it if you are not absolutely sure what type of snake it is.
The reason for this is that the Stiletto snake can
even bite while it is “held in a firm grip behind the head.”
If you are too close to the snake, stand as still as that is possible for
you and let the snake move off. If
you are two meter or more away from the snake, one can slowly retreat to a safer
distance. If you are together in a
group, find out who is really competent to identify snakes positively (no
guessing) and call this person to identify the snake.
If the snake is identified as harmless (eg Brown House Snake) then take a
stick and chase the snake back into the bushes.
Remember that even harmless snakes can still bite, but no venom is
injected. If the snake is a venomous
specie, extreme caution should be exercised as the snake can bite or spit its
venom in the case of a spitting cobra. Retreat
if possible or stand still. Sometimes
people get bitten in trying to kill a snake.
Out in the field (where us humans are the intruders), allow the snake to
move off. When moving around
in the evening, make use of a torch and wear shoes. Now
is maybe also a good time to mention that snakes are just as scared of humans as
what we are of them. And believe it
or not, but snakes will rather prefer to avoid human contact than to wonder off
to a camp site for instance. Further
more, snakes will only bite to defend themselves (eg when fooled around with),
when feeling threatened and when it is catching food.
Snakes will rather save their venom supply to use it when catching food
than to waste it biting humans left and right. When
someone is bitten and the snake is gone, do not go and look for it.
Keep the patient calm and immediately load the person into a vehicle with
medical qualified persons. Contact
the emergency services to meet you en route.
Whilst en route, apply a crepe bandage firmly (as for a sprained ankle)
from the hand up to the armpit or from the foot up to the groin.
Splint the limb. Perform
C.P.R. as and when necessary. Make
notes of what was found and what treatment was administered.
In a nutshell, these first aid measures are what to do but a proper first
aid course should be attended in order to deal with snakebites sufficiently.
For
those of you who went on the Bundu Trail or the Mountain Route before, might
have met these “little” spiders before. The golden orb spider (Nephila
Maculata, Afrikaans – Goue Wawiel spinnekop, (I think the Bundu name is
“Fritsies spiders”)) is not the largest spider, but makes the largest and
strongest web. It gets its name from the golden colour of its silk. Their vast golden webs span almost every available gap between trees and shrubs. Reaching great vertical heights and stretching across distances of up to 5 m, these strong spider webs form an almost continuous network of yellow silk ready to ensnare any insect, bird or bat that is on the wing. The golden silk is thought to attract pollinators such as bees The
big brightly coloured spider in the web is the female Nephila. She may
measure 15-30 mm in body length while the male is only 5 mm and weighs one
thousandth of the female’s weight. A web of this magnitude must require
constant maintenance. The weaving of a web takes up a lot of the spider
resources and orb spiders tend to eat the silk of any damaged section of web to
absorb and utilize the protein. The male of this species does not produce silk
but what he lacks in size and in the home maintenance department, he more than
makes up for with courage and ingenuity. The female will often eat the tiny male
after copulation. Where possible he presents a meal to her and while she is
feeding he will copulate with his preoccupied mate. In most webs one will find
the oversized female, the puny males and tiny dewdrop spiders. These small
silver spiders are Kleptoparasites, they patrol
the web picking off the smaller prey caught therein and avoiding the owners who
will eat the house guest if caught. Designed
to catch large flying insects, the web is slightly angled. It is not a perfect
wheel and is usually off-centre. To make its web, the spider releases a thin
thread into the wind. When it catches on something, the spider walks along it
trailing a stronger non-sticky thread. It repeats the process in the centre of
the line to form a strong Y-frame. Around this, it spins the rest of the web out
of sticky capture silk. Uses by humans: Tribal people have long used the webs of these spiders. In the
South Pacific, the web silk is used to make fishing lures, traps and nets. In
the Solomon Islands, the spider web is collected by winding it around sticks to
make large sticky balls which are suspended just above the water. Needle fish
are lured to jump out and get entangled in the ball. In Southeast Asia, people
make a net by scooping up the web between a stick bent into a loop. Spider webs
have been used as bandage to stop blood flow and used to make bird snares. The
Golden Orb Web Spider's venom is generally harmless to humans and they rarely
bite even if we blunder into and destroy their webs. The bite is just a scratch.
The
picture above is of a passenger in the “Old Lady” on a Bundu Trail. The lack
of side windows allows for easy access and here comes the warning:
This might lead to the passenger making a sharp move to his right, ending up on
the drivers lap and even making some real funny noises. |
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