The Herald braves the night to look for creepy crawlies
Randfontein scorpion and snake expert, Jonathan Leeming held a Creepy Crawly Night Walk in Kloofendal Nature Reserve.
Under the cover of night you might never know what you’ll find – perhaps a scorpion, or a spider, or even a snake?
The Herald ventured into the night to join local expert on scorpions and snakes, Jonathan Leeming on his Creepy Crawly Night Walk on Friday evening, 16 April at Kloofendal Nature Reserve to see if we could spot some creepy crawlies.
Jonathan took a group of eager children and their parents into the dark rocky terrain after sunset to find some scorpions. After about an hour of searching and lifting rocks, one scorpion was found.
It of course was very exciting for the children to see the Burrowing Scorpion in a container, and with the help of Jonathan, they were all allowed to hold it.
He explained that scorpion stings are painful but it usually does not require medical attention – luckily no one was injured in the process of holding or looking for scorpions.
Jonathan used a UV light to find the scorpions as the light makes these creepy crawlies glow in the dark.
According to Jonathan, these walks are intended to change the values and beliefs towards some of the most misunderstood animals in the world.
“My walks are about challenging the participants’ perceptions of not only spiders and scorpions, but their relationship with the environment. People have come up to me in the street, saying that attending one of my events changed their lives.”
Jonathan’s next walk is a morning creepy crawly walk at Kloofendal on 9 May.
