Eli Greenbaum was in Central Africa in search of rare snakes. He and his team wanted to improve researchers’ understand of eastern Congo’s poorly known herpetological diversity. Crumbling infrastructure, tropical diseases and active militia has discouraged scientific expeditions since 1960 in Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo. It was here that his team accidentally trapped a spitting cobra in a basket. Greenbaum’s employee, Maurice, was able to grab the snake, but in a split second, the beast managed to open its mouth and squeezed a jet of venom directly into his eye. Luckily, there was a young nursing mother nearby, who was able to give Maurice milk to put in his eye — the cobra’s venom can be neutralized with milk. Maurice survived and made a full recovery a few days later. But thanks to the cobra venom and the young mother, the team was able to continue their research. They have published 28 peer-reviewed papers on biodiversity in Central Africa and described 18 species that are new to science. And no one else has gotten hit in the eye by a cobra’s venom.
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