Snakes for Africa

13/06/2026

It is pretty much the middle of winter right now, although in Durban it doesn't actually feel like it yet. So callouts are dropping off. Snakes are far less active in the cold as their metabolism basically grinds to a halt.
Except these guys. The Herald snake. Also known as a Red-lipped snake, Red-lipped Herald, and affectionately in Afrikaans as a Rooi-lippie. They are active right through winter and may even be seen eating frogs or toads, on the lawn surrounded by frost. They are like the guy who always has shorts on, regardless of how cold it is. They may be quite feisty (the snakes, not the guy wearing the shorts) but have a very mild venom and are no danger to humans and children. I got a callout at about 8:30 last night for this guy. Cruising around a garden looking for a frog.

28/05/2026

Literally yesterday a Facebook memory popped up with a mamba callout, and me saying how callouts have dropped off over winter. And today I got a mamba callout. It was up in the roof of a rural dwelling, and had been seen frequently over the past two weeks.
Anyway, here is a little video of the callout with my good friend Tyrone Morris. Also, even during the day, my torch from JETBeam South Africa is absolutely essential.

20/04/2026

I am currently without a vehicle so I have been borrowing (thanks Mervyn Mayer and Janine Fennel) and Ubering.
Today I requested an Uber and got a driver that I had used before. He took me to a callout to a factory full of refrigeration equipment. Even with the aid of my fancy sponsored Jetbeam torch, I found no snake, but I even had the Uber driver helping me move things!

17/03/2026

I got a nice pretty male Puff adder in a house call last night. This guy slid quietly into the home and the homeowner nearly picked it up, thinking it was a rope or a toy. Luckily it hissed at him!

30/01/2026

Catching snakes can be dangerous enough as it is. And then this one climbs into an electrical distribution board!
A quick and easy catch though, all things considered. Spotted bush snake ..

30/01/2026

I have caught two or three snakes in the same place at the same time, but never caught two Boomslang actually mating! The green one (male) was spotted moving around in a hedge in Hammarsdale over the past few days, and again today. The people also found a shed skin, and saw the brown one today. When I arrived they were right up in the top of the hedge, actually mating!. I caught the male fairly easily but I needed the client to help me catch the female as my left hand was full. Quite dramatic. A normal man would have died.

28/12/2025

I got a photo today that I was pretty sure was a Black mamba. I was mistaken though. It was in fact a rather large female Boomslang. JETBeam South Africa
Jacqueline Helen Phillips was my able-bodied camera person. She said it was too quick and we need to do it again. Slowly.

15/10/2025

A callout for a python in a rural chicken run. It had eaten a chicken last night and taken refuge under the corrugated metal roofing. The drive there and back was more difficult than the catch!
Thanks to JETBeam South Africa for the torch. Useful even on a sunny day. And Point-S Hillcrest for the tyres keeping me on the road.

14/10/2025

After Sunday night's burst tyre incident, Hillcrest business against crime and Point-S Hillcrest came up and sorted out not one, but two new tyres for my van.
Thanks guys! Much appreciated https://www.facebook.com/share/17Q3XjNtyp/

Fitment of tyres, shocks, batteries and brakes

12/10/2025

Sunday night "charity" callout casualty. A pothole destroyed my tyre on the way out of a freebie township callout this evening. I caught a small spitting cobra in a kitchen and hit a pothole on the way home.
I hate the expression "no good deed goes unpunished" but it definitely seems to be true.