Scales and More

Molesnake removal:
Isn't it ironic that you get to remove natural rodent control from the human design, which is the result of the removal of natural control measures, through:
1. Indiscriminate habitat destruction,
2. Ignorant and irresponsible use of poison (Yes! It includes bait stations.
3. Killing of snakes, owls, genets and other smaller rodent predators.
4. Creating the perfect habitat for rodents through provision of shelter and food sources throug literally 'bad house keeping' both at home and at work.

Some time ago I collected juvenile Barn Owls who succumbed to one of the various rodent pesticides used in the industry.

Have always wondered who prescribes the use of bait stations rather than investigating the use of other alternatives.

https://www.facebook.com/532496720507308/posts/916542732102703/

Mildly Venomous
Cross-marked Grass/Sand Snake (Psammophis crucifer)

Psammo from Ancient Greek (ψάμμος) psámmos = Sand
Phis from Greek (όφις) ophis = Serpent/Snake
Crucifer:
From Latin crux to cruc = Cross &
Fero from Latin = To bear

So we have sand snake with 'bearing a cross'
For a change the taxa fits in well with the common name as the common trademark of this snake is the cross mark across the head which can be seen quite clearly on some specimens, though not always visible on all specimens.

These snakes on average reach a length of about 60cm but have reached lengths of over 80cm.

They are usually a silver grey through to olive brown with a broad dark edged line across the length of the back/dorsal (upper) side.
The sides usually has a similar dark edged line with a white lower border.
Uniformly yellow to orange-yellow on the ventral (bottom/belly) side, sometime swith grey lateral lines.
They are sometimes uniformly grey above with off white belly.

They prefer grasslands, savannah, lowland forests and montane forest and fynbos.

They feed on small lizards, skinks geckos and frogs.
They are mildly venomous back fanged snakes.
Quick to dash for cover and hardly ever bites when handled.

They are (oviparous) egg laying.

Futuristic snake rescue expectations:
When you receive a call to come rescue a snake and the conversation starts with:

Snake rescuer: "Where is the snake right now? Can you still see it?"

Caller: "No I can't see it anymore but I know exactly where it is"

Snake rescuer: "Please describe where the snake has disappeared into/under/behind and so on"

And one of the following answers are provided:

Option 1:
Caller: "It is slithered under our wendy house..."

Option 2:
Caller: "We have a pile of garden rubble/compost heap/building rubble and the snake slithered into *one of the above mentioned variables..."

Option 3:
Caller: "We have an old tree stump/slab of concrete and it slithered undeneath/into the stump/concrete slab..."

Option 4:
Caller: "We live next to a veld/We have a patch of tall/unkempt grass. The snake slithered into the tall grass and we feel unsafe. Can you come and find it for us?"

Your excitement to do a rescue, your drive, your will, your mental state, fitness to drive anywhere, call it what you will......suddenly 'parks'

Any snake rescuers 'biggest nightmare'.

Old tree stumps, wendy houses and rubble piles rank up there on the list of places where we know we're going to work our buts off and probably never find the snake.

Option 1 expanded:
"It slithered underneath our wendy house..."
- Most Wendy houses are close enough to the boundary walls or other bordering structures to be used as that secret; "I actually needed to chuck this away but dont feel comfortable doing so just yet so let me chuck it here and let it pile up with time."
- They are very rarely suspended on a proper concrete slab or decently paved areas which allows for rodents to create a maize of tunnels underneath them, a brilliant escape route for the snake in question.
- Your removal tools can't fit through and under the Wendy properly as it was built, suspended on anything from planks, bricks, stacked roof tiles, has grass growing under it with years of leaves and other rubble filling the remaining space between these suspension objects.
- Even if it is clean underneath yet has no proper concrete slab, the snake is coiled up in one of the numerous little nooks behind one of the objects used to suspend the structure, between the structure and a wall (where most normal sized people will not fit into.
Your tools won't reach or the snake has already disappeared into one of the rodent tunnels or decided to hide under the stacked roof tiles, bricks, fire wood or the secret dump space right next to it.
- The Wendy house wasn't properly maintained and has holes leading into it. It has however been stacked to the roof with boxes and boxes full of the heaviest items you can think off.

Option 2 expanded:
"We have a pile of garden rubble/compost heap/building rubble and the snake slithered into *one of the above mentioned variables..."

- Typically there would be a pile of building material/rubble, automotive or machine spares, garden rubble and more, possibly bordering 4 more piles consisting from whatever the imagination can dish up.
80% of the time, these piles (suddenly the rear end feels uncomfortable) also borders veld or unkempt overgrown patches of grass and weeds.

- No. We do not have a special chemical that if sprayed 'flushes' snakes out of their hiding spot and no. We do not have a specialised scanning device that will help us pin point the position of said snake.

- It is virtually impossible to find a snake in such a situation. Anything from an hour and more to literally move the pile and as most people prefer being part of a safe audience environment in this case, you know you are going to sweat it out for a mere 10% chance of actually finding anything.

Option 3 expanded:
"We have an old tree stump/slab of concrete and it slithered undeneath/into the stump/concrete slab..."

- That old tree stump, lying on it's side, concrete slab under the garage, from the neighbour's side, requires, at the bare minimum, a forklift to lift it, nevermind move it or unpack the decades of old items stacked on top of it.
- The dogs, local rodents or other animals dug holes all around or under it.
- It is overgrown with grass and as you try rip it away, you find old curtain rails, dumpies from 1980, broken bathroom tiles and wood that was meant to be used for the braai many moons ago.
- The stump left behind after cutting down the old tree a decade ago, had roots growing down into the soil, almost the size of the original crown of the tree and has rotten away naturally leaving tunnels behind going meters and meters down, splitting where no one can reach that snake, even after emptying your pool contents down one of the now hollow root tunnels

"We saw the snake go under that concrete slab" and you shoulders sag already. "No no. It is a small slab. You can lift it."
- You get there and you realise, you need a removal company to remove all the items on top of it. (You're probably going to become that 'company', only for free and as a one man show)
- It is the slab sticking out from the neighbours side.
- You need a crane to lift it.
It is virtually impossible to remove the snake or even find it to start with.

Option 4 expanded:
"We live next to a veld/We have a patch of tall/unkempt grass. The snake slithered into the tall grass and we feel unsafe. Can you come and find it for us?"
- As with 2.1, we do not have special chemicals or scanners to help us find the snake.
-Keep overgrowth from becoming your now horticultural experience, keep the grass short or simply let the snake be if it slithered into the veld next door.
- We won't find the snake in there.

Then, just to round it off:
Apart from these situations a snake was seen anywhere from a few hours to 3 weeks ago. It took the caller a while to convince themselves that they are really uncomfortable with a snake having been around at some stage, then a further hour or more to actually call a snake rescuer.
The snake is then marketed as being seen just 5 minutes ago by someone who probably isn't on site or hasn't been to the property for an extended period who then expects you to come find the illusive snake.
Only once you arrive on site, ask more questions as to the last spot where the snake was observed, do you realise this truth.
Sometimes you are left to find the impossible and only after giving up and unknowingly gave the caller their much needed confirmation of no snake found, will the caller let you in on this little secret.

We do not drive around with lifting equipment, jack hammers, demolishing equipment, excavating equipment, lumber equiment and the likes.
We do not have snake rescue tarot cards or sci-fi like snake scanners.
We were not born with psychic snake searching abilities.

We are normal people (well we would at least like to believe so) with the necessary training, experience and passion to rescue snakes......if it is visible and if it can be reached.

Other than keeping your property clean from overgrowth, garden rubble, building rubble wood piles, machinary and other objects just standing around with no purpose, keeping the lawn short and neat please:

When you do see a snake:
- Move kids and dogs out of harms way.
- Call your nearest snake rescuer.
- Keep an eye on the snake's whereabouts from a safe distance (5m minimum) until the snake rescuer arrives and safely removes the snake.

Simple as that.

Dogs vs Snakes conflict:

This being the busiest final months of the warmer snake season, means that snake activity peaks right before the winter temperatures set in and snakes being ectothermic then begin to become a lot less active.
It also means that we get to see them a bit more often than normal.
People tend to focus a lot more on human-snake conflict than taking note of especially dog-snake conflict.

Though most dog owners care as much for the safety of their pawed children as their human children, many seem to believe that their little Terrier, Dachshunds and other smaller dogs are specialist snake hunter/killers and promote their ‘success’ rate through the so called ‘bragging rights’ it provides. People like this need to realise that as harsh as it might seem, coordination and focus IS going to slip up and their little champion IS going to get bitten sooner rather than later.
A decent envenomation on these sized dogs from our local resident Rinkhals can result in death in as little as 10minutes.

How does the venom kill?
It paralysis the diaphragm, needed to open and close the lungs, and results in your dog dying of respiratory failure, in other words, it suffocates to death.
Venom in the yes:
Dogs coming into contact with spitting snakes like the Rinkhals, does get spat in the eyes often. Rinsing the eyes under running water for no less than 20 minutes, as soon as possible is of utmost importance and can make a huge difference in the final outcome. Remember to rinse their coats afterwards as well. We tend to forget that some of the venom spat at the dog during such a defensive display of the Rinkhals, lands on their coats and will later on end up in their eyes through typical dog bahaviour.
Rinkhals venom has cytotoxic components in the venom and will start destroying tissue in the eye should immediate attention not be given.
It is important to start rinsing as soon as you can to minimise any effects on the eyes.

Remember, time is tissue. Don’t waste time when attending to your dog after such a conflict situation. Provide the required attention without delay.

If you are aware of the presence of any snake, there is honestly no need to allow your dog in a snake conflict situation for any reason whatsoever.
Please remove your pets to a safe area away from the snake and rather call on your local snake remover to assist with safely removing the snake.

Have a bite protocol, a summarised step by step action protocol from the moment of conflict to where you get to medical support. Discuss the possibility and the correct steps with your veterinarian and make sure that you are on the same page when you have to make that call.

(Photo credit Vanessa Davis: Dog)

Scorpion herpetoculture:

After seeing friends with a scorpion, watching a few YouTube videos, and doing a little research to determine what is out there, we decide to acquire a scorpion ourselves.

Just how much research did you do?
The process of acquiring a scorpion or any animal for that matter, should not be taken lightly.

(On a side note)
A long time ago me and a friend of mine randomly decided that we needed a PC after finding a, so we thought, decent priced PC for sale.

Knowing nothing of the topic, we did a half-hearted effort to pick up some IT jargon from an assumed expert and off we went.

Walked in and demanded at least a 6GB hard drive and RAM and so on.

The sales guy must have chuckled in his sleeve as he saw an easy sale of entry level stock to get rid of, coming up.

Of course, we learnt over time that we shot ourselves in the foot at the time as we begun realising all the machines’ short comings.
We could have prevented all of that if only we were a bit more patient and put in some real effort to understand the how, why, and what better.

Acquiring ANY animal should be taken even more seriously as you have just made the decision to take full responsibility of the life of an animal upon yourself and will therefore be fully accountable for the life and wellbeing of said animal(s), whether fury, scaly, hairy, hot blooded, cold blooded and more.

You need to make 100% sure that you understand ALL the needs of the animal(s) in question.

There is no such thing as an "easy" animal.
There are animals that are adapted to climate conditions which might be remarkably similar to the overall environmental conditions in your particular region and that will make such species "easier" to keep.

There are species within the same genus that would require quite the opposite environmental conditions from one another and not understanding these requirements would be a death sentence to these animal(s)

Not understanding their required conditions might set you up to create an aesthetically pleasing habitat simply to cause a thriving ectoparasite population, interfere with respiratory functions, result on fungal growth and more

Incorrect temperatures gradients could create numerous problems and eventually be fatal to the animal.
Being able to identify when an animal is in distress based on basic symptomatic identifiers is important.

Do your research properly and familiarise yourself with your choice of animal.
Get to know where they occur naturally.
Study and understand their environmental and dietary requirements properly.

Learn how to identify the animal on a morphological level so that you do not walk into the trap of acquiring illegal animals or misidentify an animal supplied by unscrupulous illegal traders or traders with no knowledge of the animal they are offering to you.

We see locally acquired, non-Buthid Scorpions on offer to unsuspecting buyers, under the guise of it being some exotic species.

Once poachers are accommodated, they are financially incentivised to destroy local populations of indigenous non-Buthid scorpion species.

Like dogs and cats, many inexperienced keepers realise that their care is insufficient or that it requires too much of their resources, and attempt to get rid of the animal via giving the animal away, resale of a usually sick animal, release into the environment or “drop off” with a local veterinarian as an “accidental find” of a sick animal is the result.

Should local conservation authorities be made aware of your illegal animal, typically because a close “friend” or contact decided to report you, you may face heavy fines and/or even a good chance of some free boarding with the Department of Correctional Services should you be found with any such animal in your possession.
These animals WILL be euthanised once confiscated as their exact location of origin is unknown and a keeper’s permit will NOT be issued.

Some of the exotic scorpions known to have been available on the local front would be the
Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)
Tanzanian Red Clawed Scorpion (Pandinus cavimanus)
Asian Forrest Scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer) and others.
Some of the indigenous scorpions kept in captivity would be scorpions from the family Buthidae

Genera of indigenous scorpions would be off-limits as they are protected:

Hadogenes spp. – All Species
Opisthacanthus spp. – All Species
Opistopthalmus spp. – All Species
Scorpion herpetoculture:

Rather approach fellow enthusiasts as they will gladly be able to assist you in this regard.
Supporting known enthusiasts is your best source of information and support as you grow your own knowledge base.

Be aware and conservation minded while being a responsible enthusiast.

Pugnacious Burrowing Scorpion (Opistopthalmus pugnax)

One of the five scorpion species whose distribution (Gauteng, Northern Freestate and North West Province) area includes the East Rand.

Medium sized burrowing scorpion (up to 70mm) typically found under rocks, logs and other objects, where they will burrow a tunnel with a typically half-moon shaped entrance, often littered with the remains of old millipede exoskeletons.

Though they can give a painful sting, they are not considered of medical importance.

https://youtu.be/vzr7ymnvtuc

Pugnacious Burrowing Scorpion A shot and basic introduction to the Pugnacious Burrowing Scorpion (Opistopthalmus pugnax)

Aurora House Snake (Lamprophis aurora) rescue.

Successful snakes rescues are always exhilarating but it doesn't get better than when you can help someone conquer their fear for snakes.

There always seems to be a lot of animosity toward people from more rural areas posting dead snakes for ID purposes.

Of course we are passionate about these misunderstood animals but having grown up in rural Northern KZN, I have to respect that human/snake conflict typically ends in loss of limb or life.

The logistics of getting a snakebite victim to suitable medical support in time is virtually impossible as rural areas makes for extended travel to any form of medical support.

The only way to overcome fear is to learn.

Of course one has to be open to the opportunity to learn. You have to have a need to know.

Patric was very cautious and rightly so. Not being able to identify the snake at hand and therefore not being able to determine if the snake is harmless or dangerous in any way should have any observer remain a safe distance from any snake.

Patric soon became very interested in why this snake could simply be free handed.

After spending some time explaining what snake it was and why it is harmless, I decided that Patric should be afforded the opportunity to handle this snake by himself, with a few pointers.

The rest is history.

After all the snake killings so often observed, it is moments like these that make snake rescues worth while.

Thank you Patric for this opportunity.

Conservation through Education.

https://t.co/wZI1enhfD6

Rock Monitor vs Water Monitor:

After yesterday's monitor rescue and questions about the main differences between the two African species, I believe the following will provide a few basic pointers.

Will do a Water Monitor post later on.

Here on the East you will probably not be seeing any Rock Monitors (Varanus albigularis) as its normal distribution does not fall within our range. We will however from time to time get to see the Water/Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) as the East Rand falls within its distribution range.

Ok, so how do we differentiate between the two. Except for the obvious pattern differences as seen in the two images, these colours can also vary from a bright to faded yellow to a greyish yellow banded to spot banded greyish yellow banded spots in the Nile monitor with an almost uniform yellow on their bellies and chins, sometimes faintly banded whereas the Rock Monitor are usually a mottled greyish brown and a light throat (Giving it its other name: White Throated Monitor)

Rock Monitor has a more rounded almost convex head shape vs that of the Nile Monitor. (Nick Evans, borrowed your photo here as it compares nicely with one of a Nile Monitor I removed and relocated during the previous season)

Rock Monitors tend to be more heavy bodied than the Nile Monitor though the Nile Monitor reaches larger sizes from head to tail.

Rock Monitor prefers dryer savannah type habitat whereas the Nile Monitor, distributed over much of Africa prefers areas in the vicinity of water bodies.

They are both carnivorous and will take carrion too.
Lizards, snakes, smaller mammals, eggs of both bird and reptiles, fish (Nile Monitor).

We can pretty much boast about (Even though we only have the Nile Monitor around here) having both the two largest African lizards in Southern Africa.

1st Image: Rock Monitor (Credit Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer) / 2nd Image: Water/Nile Monitor (Scalesandmore)

Water Monitor (Varanus niloticus) rescue in Kempton Park - #4

I have removed a few monitors around the East Rand before and have always been able pride myself in not having had to donate blood before.

Today this monitor had different plans for me

A rather large monitor measuring:
700mm snout to vent &
1700mm snout to tail tip.

Unbelievable beast of a power house at that size, twisting, rolling and clawing to get out of my grip, it drew blood and had me join the club where normal monitor rescues always result in blood drawn. The normal grip behind the tail base was simply not possible as the tail girth was too big to completely get my hand and fingers around it for a good grip.

Upon release, we measured the monitor in order to provide the details to the KAINAV Urban Monitor Project.

For this we had to restrain it again. Again the monitor did some serious twisting and clawing adding to the lacerations already on my forearms.

Have to say that I have newfound respect for the brute force power exerted by this animal.

Released in the Sesmylspruit. With a rather dumbfounded look it realised that the freedom has just dawned disappeared in a flash.

Thank you to Edrich Dry for your assistance with the container and the restraint during the measurements.

Amazing animals.