African Burrowing Snakes: Atractaspididae

Most African burrowing snakes are not dangerous to humans, but some have venom powerful enough to make people sick and sometimes kill them. Bites typically occur at night, when people accidentally step on a snake or turn over in bed and roll onto a snake that has crawled under the covers. For the most part, however, African burrowing snakes are gentle animals that rarely bite humans. The burrowing asps are different. When humans even slightly bother a burrowing asp, it will strike again and again.