 Primarily nocturnal , Gaboon vipers have a reputation for being slow @-@ moving and placid . They usually hunt by ambush , often spending long periods motionless , waiting for suitable prey to happen by . On the other hand , they have been known to hunt actively , mostly during the first six hours of the night . In Kumasi , Ghana , they were regularly killed around some stables in an open area with the forest some 500 meters away — a sign that they were hunting rats in the grassland . They are usually very tolerant snakes , even when handled , and rarely bite or hiss , unlike most vipers . However , bites by bad @-@ tempered individuals do occur . 
 Primarily nocturnal , Gaboon vipers <a href='got' title='1'><mark>have</mark></a> a reputation for being slow @-@ moving and placid . They usually hunt by ambush , often spending long periods motionless , waiting for suitable prey to happen by . On the other hand , they <a href='been_done' title='2'><mark>have</mark></a> been known to hunt actively , mostly during the first six hours of the night . In Kumasi , Ghana , they <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>were</mark></a> regularly killed around some stables in an open area with the forest some 500 meters away — a sign that they <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>were</mark></a> hunting rats in the grassland . They <a href='drop_aux' title='5'><mark>are</mark></a>usually very tolerant snakes , even when handled , and rarely bite or hiss , unlike most vipers . However , bites by bad @-@ tempered individuals do occur . 
Primarily nocturnal , Gaboon vipers got a reputation for being slow @-@ movin and placid . They usually hunt by ambush , often spendin long periods motionless , waiting for suitable prey to happen by . On the other hand , they done been known to hunt actively , mostly during the first six hours of da nite . In Kumasi , Ghana , they was regularly killed around sum stables in an open area with the forest some 500 meters away — a sign that they was hunting rats in the grassland . They usually very tolerant snakes , even when handled , and rarely bite or hiss , unlike most vipers . However , bites by bad @-@ tempered individuals do occur .