Summer snakes

[mattb595]

Hey Guys there is a huge increase in snakes in Grahamstown and surrounding bouldering areas. Please be careful as ive spotted a large amount of puffers, boom-slangs and one cobra oh and a rinkhals in the last couple of weeks in the surrounding areas. Be on the lookout and keep ems numbers on hand.

[justin]

I think that goes for the entire country (on account of summer arriving) - I crossed paths with a Cobra the other week.

Emergency Numbers:

Western Cape
- 107
- 10177
- 021-9370300

South Cape (Plettenberg Bay/Knysna/George):
- 10177

Eastern Province (Port Elizabeth):
- 10177
- 082 990 7626

Kwazulu Natal (Durban / Pietermartitzburg):
- 0800 005 133

Gauteng / Free State / North West / Limpopo / Mpumalanga:
Primary – 074 125 1385,
Secondary – 074 163 3952
Alternatively call Metro on – 011 315-0203

Rock is hard; people are soft

[nicolaasdekker]

I'd say summers here.. Bumped into a 3-4m mamba taking a bunch of school kids for a hike to start the day off with followed by numerous more sightings of all sorts of snakes the rest of the day.

[justin]

36 degree's in Montagu today! Caught sight of a snakes tail that disappeared into the neighbours bush

[Chris F]

Hope it was a trouser snake Justin, otherwise that could be painful.

[mullet]

I'd say summers here.. Bumped into a 3-4m mamba taking a bunch of school kids for a hike

What's a mamba doing taking kids for a hike? These snakes seem to be getting sneakier each year...

[Chris F]

[justin]

Hope it was a trouser snake Justin, otherwise that could be painful.

yeah, yeah.. I'll choose my words more carefully next time

[Andre]

Hi Guys, we came across this snake at Bronkies this weekend at the base of the crag. Seemed quite relaxed sailing past our gear. Can anybody identify it? Thought it might be a bergadder, but seems a bit long.
Thanks Andre

Slang-LQ.jpg (178.81 KiB) Viewed 21641 times

[ScottS]

That's a night adder. Eats frogs and toads etc..

Poisonous, can do damage, but not deadly (disclaimer - I'm not that kind of doctor). Don't let one bite you, it hurts.

[Brent]

Summer? What summer? Here in CT it not only rained this weekend, but it snowed and hailed on TM and the Boland mountains. I think the snakes are still hibernating, or left for parts of the country that still have summer as a season.

[nicolaasdekker]

What's a mamba doing taking kids for a hike? These snakes seem to be getting sneakier each year...

[gbajson]

Hi,
I spotted one snake in Kleinmond last weekend; thick, black with yellow stripe on the top (I don't know snakes at all).

Cheers,
Grzegorz

[Leebo]

If it looked like this then you saw our good friend the puff adder.

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[Turtle]

Is it true that there's a basic rule of thumb: if a stripe on a snake goes from head to tail, its generally NOT poisonous, and if the stripe/s goes across the body it IS poisonous? With stripe I mean even if its jagged like the patterned stripes on the puffy above.
If this is true, at least for most of the snakes in SA, we can all easily distinguish between lethal and non lethal, and maybe even relax a bit more in the outdoors...

[pierre.joubert]

.

[Turtle]

Ja, those stripes are mainly an attempt to scare off the possible predator, very effective, but not much unlike what the bee sting does to the bee, it leaves the attackee (own word) disgusted and quite frankly, embarrassed to the point of death... been there, done that... hiehie...

[Leebo]

Is it true that there's a basic rule of thumb: if a stripe on a snake goes from head to tail, its generally NOT poisonous

Unfortunately it is not that easy.

The egg eater and harlequin snake would be good examples

harlequin-snake.jpg (78.14 KiB) Viewed 21243 times

[jgb]

black mamba's got no stripes

[justin]

A Cape Cobra was spotted about 20 meters before the Scoop as you cross the river bed (the snake was spotted on the same day by two different groups).

Reading your smart phone whilst walking down the path is not a good idea


Naja Nivea - Cape Cobra, Geelkapel, Koperkapel
Photo by Sean Thomas

- Venomous Snakes of the Cape Peninsula

[mattb595]

Has anyone used of these before? Any volunteers?


http://www.mammothoutdoor.co.za/coghlan ... 30384.html

[Stefan Smeda]

http://bfelabs.files.wordpress.com/2010 ... ctored.pdf

Study on suction type snakebite kit effectiveness. Apparently not so much.

[DiabolicDassie]

Those don't work, old wives tale.....

[Alvin]

Advice in the event of a snake bite:

1. Do NOT cut or suck the wound.
2. If in doubt wether it is poisenous get medical help ASAP
3. If possible immobilize the limb, eg with a splint
4. Do NOT use a tourniquette, in stead you can try to compress the tissue around the bite, using bandage, cloth etc. in a spiral manner.
5. Try to comfort patient and remain calm, do NOT try to catch or come near to snake

The whole idea behind above is that the poison remains in the tissue as long as possible in order to keep the level in the systemic circulation as low as possible until you receive antiserum. You have 2 types of poison: 1. disturbing the clotting system in which instance the patient bleeds from any small wound, also from the tiniest lesions in any mucosal lining. 2. inhibiting the central nervous system, ultimately resulting in paralysis including your breathing muscles. In both cases it is worthwhile to try and keep the poison C to the local tissue. You can get tissue destruction, but it could save your life. Arrival at any hospital: do NOT remove any bandage before you have the serum at hand and access to supportive therapy eg respiratory and circulatory support. The average anual death rate due to snake bites in southern afirca is approximately 300 (http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/i ... index.html).

Unfortunately in my profession i've seen several patients succumb due to snake bites. So take care and enjoy your summer! Alvin

[justin]

The following Poison Information comes from the Poison Information Centre Website
+27 21 938-6084 (office hours)
+27 21 931-6129 (24 hours)

Initial Pre-hospital management of snakebite First Aid

Before leaving on a hike, climbing, mountain biking or camping trip, find out where the nearest medical facility is and note the telephone number.

• In the case of a snake bite, get the patient to a medical facility as soon as possible. Phone ahead to notify them of the arrival of a snake bite victim. Note that, in most cases, you have a couple of hours before serious lifethreatening symptoms manifest themselves.

• Immobilise the patient if possible. If alone, keep calm and do not walk too fast or run as this speeds up the distribution of the venom.

• Do not suck the bite site. Do not apply a tourniquet.

• ONLY in suspected neurotoxic bites (mamba, Cape Cobra), is it recommended that you apply a wide crepe bandage firmly above the bite site (as tightly as for a
sprained ankle) to slow the spread of venom to vital organs like the heart and lungs.

• The life threatening neurotoxic effects of Mamba and Cape Cobra bites (such as difficulty in breathing) develop within 30 min to 4 hours. If you are more than 2 hrs
away from medical assistance, respiratory support (e.g. mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) may be necessary.

• The life threatening effects of a cytotoxic snake bite (e.g. puff adder) develop late (6-24 hours).

• Comforting and reassuring the patient is a very important part of the first aid treatment.

• Try to get a good description of the snake.

• NOTE: Antivenom should only be administered by the trained medical staff in a medical facility.

Tygerberg Poison Information Centre (Tel: 021 931 6129)
Division of Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Stellenbosch University
http://www.sun.ac.za/poisoncentre

[BrendanArgent]

Saw a large cape cobra on the path to the Glencoe Quarry in Cape Town last week.
Worth keeping an eye open!

[Marshall1]

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[Darryn]

Any questions regarding snakes or other reptiles, check out www.sareptiles.co.za awesome site...

[nicolaasdekker]

A Cape Cobra was spotted about 20 meters before the Scoop as you cross the river bed (the snake was spotted on the same day by two different groups).

Where is scoops?

[Not]

The Scoop is a crag in Badkloof in Montagu. See:

http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki/The_Scoop