SUNDAY TRIBUNE (Pietermaritzburg, S Africa) 29 June 08 Can he live with 40 snakes for 110 days? (Kristin Palitza)
Most people hope they will never come face to face with a snake, especially not a venomous one.
Self-declared snake lover Martin Smit, however, has chosen to live with them. In an attempt to set a world record, he will live for 110 days in a tiny room with 40 of South Africa's most poisonous snakes.
Smit said farewell to fiancée Vivienne, family and friends on June 14 to settle with his reptile companions into a 12 square-metre room, which was especially built at the Chameleon Reptile Park and Zoo in Hartbeespoort near Pretoria where he works as the snake park curator.
He lives in a room with black and green mambas, boomslange, puff adders and snouted cobras.
The 29-year-old says there is a good chance that he might be bitten during his three months' stay in the enclosure.
"I hope to get off scot-free, but hey, I am living with 40 snakes, so it's quite likely one or two will bite me," he says.
But with a first-aid kid full of anti-venom drugs and a doctor on call 24/7, Smit seems little worried for his life.
If bitten by a black mamba, the most dangerous of the lot, Smit will have about 20 minutes, "depending on where it will bite me", to inject the life-saving anti-venom, which he can administer himself.
As long as a bite can be medicated within the enclosure and Smit doesn't have to be admitted to hospital, the world record attempt will continue.
The nights in the snake-ridden room are the most dangerous hours, says Smit.
"The snakes are active, and I have to make sure that they don't climb on to me when I am asleep."
Every night, before he gets into bed, he searches his duvet cover to make sure no reptile is hiding underneath.
"I sleep very lightly because if a snake decides to climb on to the bed at night I have to take it off immediately. I am half-awake all night. I have to keep an eye on them all the time," he explains.
Smit says his first night in the room was very uncomfortable, but now he and the snakes, which are regularly fed with pre-killed mice and rats, have settled down. To catch up on lost sleep, he naps during the day, when most of the snakes are less active.
Apart from hiding in his bed, another big danger is that a snake might decide to crawl up the leg of his trousers. In that case, all Smit will be able to do is stay calm.
"At some point, it will have to come out again. There is nothing I can do other than read a book and wait," he says.
Smit is the first person to set an official Guinness World Record for spending the longest period with snakes in an enclosure. There have been other attempts, for example in 1986 by South African Austin Stevens, who lived with 36 snakes for 107 days, but none of these attempts have been registered with the Guinness book authorities.
The room, which is kept at a snake-friendly temperature of 25C, is fitted with a bed, bathroom and kitchen unit, TV and laptop with internet access. A closed-circuit camera has been installed to provide a live feed of Smit's whereabouts to the internet.
According to Guinness Book of World Records regulations, Smit is not allowed out of the enclosure for the whole period of the attempt. Although there are dividing doors between the two rooms of the enclosure, one of these doors has to stay open for the snakes to be able to move freely between the rooms.
"I can't leave the room, but visitors are welcome to come inside. But for some reason nobody wants to," jokes Smit. Not even his fiancée.
Smit decided to give the world record attempt a go for two reasons, he says. First, to raise funds for a Komodo dragon enclosure for the park as well as for Krugersdorp-based Save-A-Child, an organisation assisting families with children suffering from cerebral palsy. But, second, he would like to improve snakes' bad reputation.
"I want to show people that snakes are not nasty. They are not the mindless killers they are made out to be," he explains.
Yet, Smit, who owned his first snake, a black-headed centipede eater, when he was just 10 years old, has been bitten five times. He is little fazed by the incidents, though.
"I brought my first one home in a box and kept it as a pet. My mother thought I was mad, but my father was a nature lover and encouraged my love for snakes," he says.
Vivienne is supportive of his record attempt, but also afraid for him living with his poisonous friends for such a long period of time.
"I wouldn't say she has a great fondness for snakes but she respects them and is proud of me," he says.
Can he live with 40 snakes for 110 days?