BOIS D’ORANGE, St Lucia — A fer-de-lance snake bit a part-time security guard in the Bois d’Orange community on Thursday, May 7, in the second serious attack of its kind reported this year, and the animal remains unaccounted for in a residential area.
The guard, whose name has not been released, discovered he had been bitten on his foot and drove himself to the Owen King EU Hospital in Castries, where he received emergency treatment. He was later discharged and is said to be recovering.
The incident follows the fatal fer-de-lance attack that killed Valence Alfred in Thomazo, Dennery, in late January, with Alfred dying the day after being bitten despite receiving emergency care, including antivenom at the Owen King EU Hospital. Since February 2025, seven snakebite victims have been treated under St Lucia’s Universal Health Coverage programme, according to SLUHC Director Alisha Eugene-Ford.
Snake Likely Carried North by Construction Equipment
Senior Forestry Officer Piyus Haynes said preliminary assessments, based on bite mark size, suggest the snake involved was relatively small. Forestry teams investigated how the animal reached Bois d’Orange, a community not typically associated with fer-de-lance habitat, and concluded it almost certainly arrived through human activity.
Investigators pointed to the movement of excavators and trucks between Bois d’Orange and the communities of Canaries and Millet, where the species is more commonly found. Vehicles transporting river stones and soil northward to construction sites may have unknowingly carried the animal concealed in soil loads or within vehicle compartments.
“The snake most likely would have been among the soil or stowed away in some compartment area in the vehicles,” Haynes said.
The animal has not been captured and remains in the public space.
Forestry Department Urges Vigilance as Displacement Incidents Rise
Haynes cautioned that fer-de-lance snakes are primarily nocturnal and can appear far outside their usual habitat when displaced. Flooding, stowaway transport, and inadvertent human movement are all factors that regularly push the animals into unfamiliar environments, he said.
The concern extends beyond Bois d’Orange. Following Alfred’s death in Thomazo, residents in Dennery raised alarm about sightings near homes, doorways, and paths used daily by workers and commuters. Fauna and Flora, working alongside the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Forestry Department, and the Ministry of Health, has since launched a Saint Lucia Fer-de-Lance Project aimed at reducing snakebites while maintaining a stable population of the endemic species.
The public has been urged not to attempt to handle any snake they encounter. Anyone who sights the animal should contact the Forestry Department directly so that trained officers can intervene. Residents in and around Bois d’Orange are advised to exercise particular caution outdoors and in low-light areas until the snake is located and removed.
