This isn't really climbing related, but since we get more opportunities than most people to spot animals and many of us love all nature has to offer, I though this might interest some people. I wanted to name the thread "animal sightings", but I decided to make it "interesting sightings", so that the alien spotters won't feel excluded. So feel free to post anything interesting you spotted at the crag.

This weekend was a rather good weekend as far as animal sightings go. We walked down Cedarberg kloof and spotted a bright green spotted bush snake. My flatmate is a herpetologist and he insists it is a spotted bush snake even though it didn't have spots - go figure. Basically, it looks a lot like a boomslang, but without the really big eyes.

About 50m further downstream (on the smooth slab on the true right close to Boggle, we came across a juvenile Mozambique spitting cobra. I was looking around to spot climbs instead of where I was walking and would probably have been bitten had the girl behind me not stop me. We were about 3-4 meters from him and he already had his head reared at us. We could walk around him and we were fortunate that he was quite calm and we could have a good close up look at him.

Later we sat on top of Tigatrix watching 3 Witsies battle up Boggle (nail biting stuff) when we saw a Gymnogene. It's nest is just about 10 maybe 15 meters to the right (upstream) of the top of Boggle. In other words it is above the big roofs over Cedarberg Traverse. The bird sat about 50m upstream, presumably waiting for us and the Witsies to bugger off. I could be wrong, but it looks like there might be eggs in the nest.

All dem big words, fenk goodness for google...

oh, sorry mate, here's a translation to make it easy:

me see snake.

me see snake.

me see beeg bird.

What see you?

Dam duud

U wil skrik some of our highly sensitive climbing brothers and sisters off seeing that they will prob piepie in der pants hearing about all de snakes and ostree-ches u hef been seeing wyle klaaimbieng...

I once was walking in the Brandberg (Nam) and as I was standing straddling two boulders while talking to my friends, a black mamba wizzed between my legs into the bush beyond.

The brown stripe could be seen for aprox 47.8 metres after... um, my brown stripe... if you know what I mean... it wus a black mamba, ok...

I was hiking on TM last saturday in the mist and rain and passed a group of transvestites heading up Platteklip. Trues bob. Hats with flowers on, pink hand bag, wobbling on funny shoes, the whole tootie.
A short while later it started bucketing down with heavy rain so I reckon they had an interesting time up there.
Definitely the weirdest thing I've ever seen on the hill

At Red Rocks, Kentucky last year we saw about 7 Copperheads (will give you a bad headache if you are bitten).

Including these two 'below' who were under a rock that my Nephew was sitting on (the back of his knees were exposed to the two snakes).

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Climb ZA - Administrator

hahaha, shoooweeeee! Dacaveman, me thinks I would have had laundry problems myself if that happened to me!

Spike, I'd rather not ask how you knew they were transvestites and not just ugly women Must admit that is weird.

Just a headache Justin? I thought their venom was similar to that of puffies. I bet you nephew's mom wasn't overly pleased.

According to the 'Internet'
Copperhead snake bites can cause swelling, local tissue injury, abnormally low blood pressure, lack of blood clotting and general pain in all limbs. It is however very rare that bites from copperhead snakes leads to death.

They really were all over the place!!

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Climb ZA - Administrator

Lol! Interesting sightings indeed!

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You may still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not. Cat Stevens

Seems like Cedarberg kloof is teeming with snakes at the moment. I know it's snake season and all that, but I've never in my life seen so many in the Magalies. This weekend we saw 2 Mozambique Spitting Cobras, both juveniles (no it wasn't the same snake). I also heard via the grapevine that someone saw a black mamba, but I very much doubt that, I think it could be big mama Cobra. Anyway, just be careful, especially for the little ones, they are new and inexperienced at getting out of the way. Their venom is just as potent as the adults and they are more likely to strike. They are spread all along the entire length of Cedarberg kloof, and I think we can safely assume that encounters in Lower Tonquani and Boulder kloof is likely.

The Spotted Bush Snake I reported last week was indeed a Green Water Snake (we saw it again this weekend), they are mostly harmless.

Good thing you started wearing shoes, hey, shorti!
On the other hand, if I were a snake I'd know better than attacking a mo-carrier.....

if only... I was sneaking about, barefoot and hungry, looking for something to eat when the second one scurried off the path. If the broom helped, I'll be in great peril now, because this morning I simply couldn't take it any mo', so I shaved it off.

Saturday evening, while eating delicious dinner, something caught my eye. It was a spider who hid in the sand waiting for a bug to pass by. The movement I saw was a near miss, but eventually she caught one in a flash and pulled it back into her little hole. Ok fine, I helped a little by putting another bug next to the hole so that we could see how she does it.

Three weeks ago there was a Klipspringer in Wei Kloof (little stream between MSP on the way to Cederberg Kloof, Magaliesberg) which allowed us to come unusually close. A nice end to a super day in the kloofs.

So there I am, four pitches up Blouberg and reaching for a jam. I hear a squeak and see a flurry and out pops a bat. Being the experienced traddie that I am I let forth a string of expletives. But I keep my cool, place a cam and reach back to chalk up. But wait, what is this strange soft thing in my chalk bag? An aloe branch perhaps? Don't remember seeing any of those. And aloe branches don't move. A scream shatters the african silence: "THERE"S A BAT IN MY CHALKBAG!" Composure out the window and no ways I'm sticking my hand back in there. The howls of laughter from the other three people on the hill don't help much. Fortunately for both me and the rodent stowaway, the little critter flew out a minute later. White from snout to tail and streaming a chalk trail behind him. Bet he had some explaining to do to the missus...

haha Hector. Chalk is mos a laxative, I'm sure the bat was skuit bang vir jou gewees daarna!

So, I'm belaying legend climbing partner Echard Haber up a new climb he bolted in Namibia, and same thing, as he reached for a jam hold, something soft moves inside. I was belaying him on lead, and out comes a beeeeeg mr Zebra Snake nogal, the snake squeezed up the crack chimney style about 15m off ground...

A big drown pile later, and as the snake fell from above...I completed the worlds most dangerous belay with the rope angled almost 90degrees to the first bolt and me standing probably 40m away, waiting for the now fallen snake to please not come my way...

I held mr Haber somehow, and the snake angled away to the left... SO, if its true that snakes are more scared of us than we are of them, I just say 'whatevs, man'...

climbed a few pitches with gollum on the clifton face of lion's head friday after work - yes, weekday trad after work in CT - returning to the tea cave as dark settled on the mountain i heard a rustle near my pack; found a fat puffadder starting the hunt as cool temps finally came to the rocks. took a picture with my cellphone camera but it's too blurry to post (definitely bad light and NOT a shaking hand). hope the snake has not decided to make the tea cave it's home

Hahaha, wow, seeing Hector and the bat must have been priceless! Dito Turtle's dodgy belay

On the topic of "sightings" and Lion's Head, why do you think people walk up there? It can't be for the exercise - you can get that on your treadmill. It can't be for the fresh air, because the mountain is in the city. Surely it has to be for the view and for that you need eyes. But evidently most of the people going up there are as blind as bats. Brenda and I found it quite entertaining to watch people walk right past us without noticing us at all. We were in plain site 2-3 meters of the path eating lunch. They won't have much of a chance seeing that puffy, but then again, it is probably better that they don't.

Mok's brother and I came upon a sable the other day when we went mountain biking in the Groenkloof Nature reserve. I know the place is little more than a zoo, but still, I found it quite special, especially since we were the only people there that afternoon after some heavy rain. They are magnificent creatures and it was the first time I saw one in what must be about 25 years.

1) a decent size lizard (About 30cm) in Boven, which is not that exciting but I had just reached into a crack and put my hand on it... cr$pped myself... thought it was a snake.
2) A big brown bunny ducking through the grass at strubens two (I thought all the bergies had already eaten them

At Wellington's Dome last June, Neil kept egging us on to do the second ascent of a route he opened - Raptors 24 - so we did. I nearly laughed myself off the ledge the first time a big white owl left the crack Dieter was jamming above. The second time was even funnier, with even more expletives. The third time he let loose a lot of screaming on the same crux pitch, I thought the chance of 3 bigass birds klapping him in the head on the same pitch was remote. Turned out he pulled a brick sized rock (the good hold you go for at the crux) off the wall and caught himself with the momentum of throwing it back over his head.

Neil was standing on the ground the entire time and I'm sure laughed his ass off.

Is there an MSCA trip to Wellington's this winter?

on the PTA section program: "16-19 Wellington‟s Dome – Sport Climbing (Joint Explo/Jhb)"

Had a similar experience once in Boulder kloof. Climbing a 22 on the true left across from Slipstream. There is this big offwidth under a roof. So Hector is going up this and a Barn owl comes flying out. Couple of words later and he heads up again. Another owl, and then a couple of seconds later two more. So all in all four Barn owls. We decided to back off after that