The importance of snakes – The Spotted Bush snake
No snake that ventures into your home or garden deserves to die, whether they are venomous or not.
OVER the next few weeks I would like to do a series on the common snakes of the Durban South area.
Most people would not mind if all snakes were removed from their immediate environment.
However, I do not agree with this viewpoint, as education is far better than eradication. No snake that ventures into your home or garden deserves to die, whether they are venomous or not. Most of the time snakes wander into our environment by accident and will quickly escape if given the opportunity.
Snakes play a vital role in our ecosystem by reducing the numbers of pests such as rats, mice and toads.
As a snake catcher, I can honestly say the vast majority of snakes I get called out to are totally harmless and it would be quite alright to leave them in the garden, unless there are possibly cats or dogs that pose a threat to the snake. Sadly, the only two snakes most folks know are the green mamba and black mamba. Any green snake is labelled as a green mamba and any brown, grey or black snake is labelled as a black mamba. This is simply untrue. In the Durban South area there are only a few common snake species. I always try to advise people to take some time to learn about the common snakes of your area, as in doing so, you might just find your fear will also diminish.
Starting off this series, we will have a look at the most common snake in the Durban area, the spotted bush snake.
The Spotted Bush snake is harmless.
Identification: A thin bodied snake, no thicker than your index finger and averaging a maximum length of one metre. It is green on top with a pale yellow or pearl white belly with black and sometimes white speckles on the first half of the body.
Favourite food: Tree frogs and geckos
Habits: Without a doubt, the most common snake in the Durban area thanks to the availability of geckos. Unfortunately this fetish for geckos is what attracts it to homes. These snakes do not have fangs or venom which makes them completely harmless to humans and pets alike. They are active during daylight hours, favouring to escape at the first sign of danger.
Contact Warren to have some of your interesting insects, snakes or spiders identified, by sending a Whatsapp or calling 072-211-0353.
He also has a Facebook page: Warren’s Small World.
