Snakes grow rapidly till they mature and then continue to grow very slowly till their death. As they grow, they outgrow their skin so they moult the old one after a new skin has formed under it. The snake splits the old skin at the nose and literally crawls out of the old skin. During moulting, the snake stops eating but becomes aggressive. A bite from a poisonous snake affects either the nervous system (neurotoxic) or the blood vessels (hemotoxic) of human beings. The only cure against snake bite is snake anti-venom. It is made by injecting very small doses of raw venom (about one-tenth of the fatal dose) into a horse and then gradually increasing the dose, making the horse immune to snake venom. The blood of the horse is then drawn, frozen and processed after separating the antibodies and crystallized into a powder. This is anti-venom as we know it. When a snake bite occurs, the following first aid measures should be taken. Panic should be avoided and the patient should be kept warm and reassured. The wound should be checked to see if it is a poisonous or non poisonous bite. A poisonous bite will have two big fang marks, a non poisonous bite will have many teeth marks. If the bite is poisonous, the patient should first be immobilized. No alcohol, tea, coffee or other stimulants, nor even painkillers should be given. The wound should not be washed or cut or the poison swabbed out as this could cause infection and loss of blood. A tight tourniquet can be tied a little above the wound, such that one finger should be able to pass under the tourniquet. The patient should be transported as quickly as possible to the nearest hospital. The tourniquet should be left in place until antivenom is given. But it should be released for 10 seconds every 90 seconds and should not be used for more than six hours. At the hospital antivenom will be given which rapidly subdues the effects of the venom. To avoid snakes, the following precautions must be taken. Rubbish around the house should be cleared. Rat holes should be filled and rats should be prevented from breeding in and around the house. Long tree branches touching the houses and creepers trailing the porches and window panes should be cut. Good boots should be used while walking through forested area. Avoid stepping over any obstacle when the other side is not visible and use a torch while moving outside the house at night. Chapter 7: A Vacation within a Vacation