I was assigned to CIA's Africa Division and posted to Morocco. We had venomous snakes, but they weren't a serious problem . . . although our gardener did find a pit viper in the backyard. I figured that was the embassy housing officer's problem. So I took the (dead) snake to work in a paper bag. Dumped it on his desk. In spite of which we remained friends.

Colleagues who'd been assigned sub-Sahara talked about places where everyone kept antivenin in the refrigerator. Black mambas being one of the major concerns.