Northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:13 pmHi all
My name is Nick Evans, I'm from Durban, South Africa. I have recently moved up into Northern KwaZulu Natal to live and work. At the moment I'm doing freelance work, such as guiding, snake removals etc.
Over the past month and a bit I've been lucky enough to find some amazing reptile and amphibian species. It's such an amazing part of the world, with so much to see and such a high level of diversity. It wasn't just reptile sightings that have been great!
It's been a pretty dry summer, all though we did have quite a bit of rain recently which brought out a few fossorial species as well as many frog species. Most of the species found were found while road cruising, and a few were removed from farms.
Eastern Purple-Glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas microphthalma microphthalma)
Common Purple-glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis)
Jan's Shovel-snout (Prosymna janii)
East African Shovel-snout (Prosymna stuhlmannii)
Transvaal Quill-snouted Snake (Xenocalamus transvaalensis)
Variegated Slug-eater (Duberria variegate)
Common Wolf Snake (Lycophidion capense)
Rhombic Egg-eater (Dasypeltis scabra)
Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia)
Schlegel's Blind Snake (Megatyphlops schlegelii)
Eastern Natal Green Snake (Philothamnus natalensis natalensis)
Southern African Python (Python natalensis)
Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca)
Snouted Cobra (Naja annulifera)
Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Naja mossambica)
Vine Snake (Thelotornis capensis)
Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)
Van Dam's Dwarf Worm Lizard (Zygaspis vandami)
Eastern Sand Skink (Trachylepis depressa)
Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis)
Transvaal Girdled Lizard (Cordylus vittifer)
Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis)
Eastern Hinged-back Tortoise (Kinixys zombensis)
Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus edulis)
Red-legged Kassina (Kassina maculata)
Bubbling Kassina (Kassina senegalensis)
Mozambique Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus)
Bronze Caco (Cacosternum nanum)
Broad-banded Grass Frog (Ptychadena mossambica)
Mottled Shovel-nosed Frog (Hemisus marmoratus)
I do snake removals in and around the area of Hluhluwe. I've had some pretty adventurous ones so far! A lot of the time I'd like to leave the snake alone, but the farmers will kill them if I don't remove them.
I got a call to remove a Forest Cobra that was in a hollow tree. It was tricky enough to get it out, but I soon painfully discovered the tree was occupied by a swarm of bees! Luckily a staff member at the lodge had a bee suit, but only the top half! It was a lot of fun...
Another call for a Forest Cobra high up a tree...
And a female Boomslang, also up a tree!
Game viewing isn't too bad either....
Black Rhino on the Eastern Shores of Isimangaliso Wetland Park.
Boat rides on the St.Lucia estuary allow you to get close to hippos, Nile Crocodiles, and birds.
Yellow Weaver
Egyptian Geese and Woolly-necked Storks
White Rhino in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
Wild Dogs
Elephants in Tembe Elephant Park
Nyala's at Mkhuze Game Reserve
Warthog family
Hippo at Muzi Pan just outside of Mkhuze
Ndumo Game Reserve...
Pelicans at Ndumo
If anyone's keen on visiting the area, give me a shout!
Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
My name is Nick Evans, I'm from Durban, South Africa. I have recently moved up into Northern KwaZulu Natal to live and work. At the moment I'm doing freelance work, such as guiding, snake removals etc.
Over the past month and a bit I've been lucky enough to find some amazing reptile and amphibian species. It's such an amazing part of the world, with so much to see and such a high level of diversity. It wasn't just reptile sightings that have been great!
It's been a pretty dry summer, all though we did have quite a bit of rain recently which brought out a few fossorial species as well as many frog species. Most of the species found were found while road cruising, and a few were removed from farms.
Eastern Purple-Glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas microphthalma microphthalma)
Common Purple-glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis)
Jan's Shovel-snout (Prosymna janii)
East African Shovel-snout (Prosymna stuhlmannii)
Transvaal Quill-snouted Snake (Xenocalamus transvaalensis)
Variegated Slug-eater (Duberria variegate)
Common Wolf Snake (Lycophidion capense)
Rhombic Egg-eater (Dasypeltis scabra)
Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia)
Schlegel's Blind Snake (Megatyphlops schlegelii)
Eastern Natal Green Snake (Philothamnus natalensis natalensis)
Southern African Python (Python natalensis)
Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca)
Snouted Cobra (Naja annulifera)
Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Naja mossambica)
Vine Snake (Thelotornis capensis)
Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)
Van Dam's Dwarf Worm Lizard (Zygaspis vandami)
Eastern Sand Skink (Trachylepis depressa)
Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis)
Transvaal Girdled Lizard (Cordylus vittifer)
Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis)
Eastern Hinged-back Tortoise (Kinixys zombensis)
Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus edulis)
Red-legged Kassina (Kassina maculata)
Bubbling Kassina (Kassina senegalensis)
Mozambique Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus)
Bronze Caco (Cacosternum nanum)
Broad-banded Grass Frog (Ptychadena mossambica)
Mottled Shovel-nosed Frog (Hemisus marmoratus)
I do snake removals in and around the area of Hluhluwe. I've had some pretty adventurous ones so far! A lot of the time I'd like to leave the snake alone, but the farmers will kill them if I don't remove them.
I got a call to remove a Forest Cobra that was in a hollow tree. It was tricky enough to get it out, but I soon painfully discovered the tree was occupied by a swarm of bees! Luckily a staff member at the lodge had a bee suit, but only the top half! It was a lot of fun...
Another call for a Forest Cobra high up a tree...
And a female Boomslang, also up a tree!
Game viewing isn't too bad either....
Black Rhino on the Eastern Shores of Isimangaliso Wetland Park.
Boat rides on the St.Lucia estuary allow you to get close to hippos, Nile Crocodiles, and birds.
Yellow Weaver
Egyptian Geese and Woolly-necked Storks
White Rhino in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
Wild Dogs
Elephants in Tembe Elephant Park
Nyala's at Mkhuze Game Reserve
Warthog family
Hippo at Muzi Pan just outside of Mkhuze
Ndumo Game Reserve...
Pelicans at Ndumo
If anyone's keen on visiting the area, give me a shout!
Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Up there in the bush it's not so easy to get it fixed! I managed to send it to Durban and it took 5 minutes to get the little bug off. Pity!
