Durban snake catcher Nick Evans and Warren’s Small World spent hours processing hatchling snakes on Thursday.
“By processing, I mean measuring, sexing and weighing. Good data to collect off of these snakes before being released,” Evans said.
He said it was a tedious, time-consuming process, requiring a lot of concentration, yet enjoyable at the same time.
I love research, Evans said.
“We managed close to 60 snakes, consisting of black mambas, brown house snakes, spotted bush snakes and vine snakes.
“The mambas were the biggest, being 50-60cm, weighing around 30g. The house snakes were the shortest, 25-30cm. The bush snakes were the lightest, less than 10g,” explained Evans.
“Hatchling snakes are very cute. But, with the venomous species, one still needs to be extremely careful of the sharp end.”
Evans said that the mothers of the snakes were caught in properties, where they were looking for a suitable spot to lay eggs (often, a retaining wall).
“I, or friends, gave them such an environment, in captivity. Once the snakes laid their eggs, they were released in the wild, they’ll lay and leave the eggs,” Evans said.
“The young will be released soon away from humans.”
Evans said the snakes were perfectly capable of hunting and fending for themselves the moment they hatch. As well as that, raising them until they are bigger and then releasing them could interfere with wild populations, as more will likely survive to adulthood than nature intended. Also, by keeping them for months or more, there is a chance they pick up a parasite or disease in captivity, and then that is introduced into the wild population.
“So no, it is a sweet gesture, but not an ethical, nor practical option,” Evans said.
He thanked Warren for his valuable assistance.
Meanwhile, last Friday night, Evans checked on the eggs collected from rescued snakes around two-three months ago and was delighted to see that both the Mozambique spitting cobra clutches were hatching.
He said their mothers were caught by his friend Duncan Slabbert. Both were hiding in a hole in a garden in Shallcross, in early December. After laying the eggs, the mothers were released.
“There’s just over 30 from the two clutches, so measuring all of them will be a tedious task, involving a lot of concentration,” Evans said.
Earlier this month, Evans said that in December, he went out to a warehouse in Verulam to collect some snake eggs.
“After a while in a box of vermiculite, in my cupboard, the eggs are currently hatching. Non-venomous brown house snakes. Cute little things,” Evans said.
Then at the end of January, the hatching of 12 green mambas was an early morning treat for staff at the South African Association for Marine Biological Research’s Dangerous Creatures.
In November last year, Evans rescued a green mamba from a residential area and noticed that the snake was visibly gravid (pregnant). In order to give the mom and her offspring the highest chance of survival, he brought the snake to the herpetologists at uShaka Sea World.
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