FEAST OR FAMINE

At Snake Park in Nairobi, Kenya, there are a number of non-threatening African snakes, such as the Mt Kenya Bush Viper, the East African Garter Snake, and the African Rock Python. The Mt Kenya Bush Viper (Atheris desaixi) is a black and yellow snake with a thick body and broad head. It grows up to 70 centimetres (27.5 inches). It lives in bushland and forests between 1500-1700 metres above sea level – specifically and endemically to the south-east of Mt Kenya and the Nyambeni Hills. The tree viper is active day and night. They have live young. Their venom is unlikely to be deadly because one reported case of a snake bite only caused pain and swelling. It eats small animals. The East African Garter Snake ( Elapsoidea loveridgei ) has had no reported fatalities, although details are unknown. The snake bite cases that are known only caused local pain and swelling. The East African Garter Snake is a glossy with a short head. It is black ...

The Giant African Land Snail ( Achatina fulica ) is a terrestrial gastropod, about 20 centimetres (8 inches) long, from humid regions across countries in Africa. Gastropod means ‘stomach on foot.’ They are nocturnal (active at night). During the day they bury themselves under plants or completely underground. The Giant African Land Snail lays up to 200 eggs per clutch 5-6 times a year. The eggs hatch and reach full size in about six months. They are hermaphroditic, having both male and female reproductive organs. If two snails are similar size they can reproduce bilaterally (two ways). If they are different sizes they can reproduce unilaterally (one way) with the larger individual acting as the female. They are macrophytophagous herbivores, which means that they eat a wide range of plant material, fruit, and vegetables. They can be eaten as food, but are regarded as an environmental and agricultural pest (an invasive species) when introduced into oth...

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

The Unreturning Army: A Field Gunner in Flanders 1917-18 (1967, this edition 2015) is the updated memoir of Scottish soldier Huntly Gordon with additional letters found by his son David Gordon. It is the trench warfare of the Western Front in France, particularly near Ypres. Huntly Gordon begins his memoir with ‘I never meant to be a soldier.’ In the second chapter the Great War (the first world war) is at Britain’s doorstep. His choice was to enter the lighthorse brigade as a gunner, the Royal Field Artillery, with training at Woolwich in the Royal Military Academy. His training in ‘equitation’ is his training with horses. But the two year course is abruptly shortened to nine months in order to get into battle quickly. On 17 June 1917 Huntly was in Flanders, France, on the Western Front. Before the American forces joined the battle American horses were already there. Gordon is paired with a ‘nice bay mare of fifteen hands’ called Molly and later with a mare called Fl...