Snake Handler Course - Driftsand NR, Blue Downs

Hi all, it's been a while....  Life has been hectic and lots has changed since my last post.  I am no longer permanently employed as a bird and bat monitor but do free-lance work when I can.

I resigned in December last year to spend 6 months doing my required hours of work experience to obtain my National Diploma in Nature Conservation.  I have been volunteering at the Table Bay Nature Reserve and the Strandfontein/Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve for the past couple of months as well as assisting an Msc student with a pollination study in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve.  More about that later.

Last week-end I did a snake handling course through the Cape Reptile Institute, led by Dr Tony Phelps and Marcel Witberg and had an awesome time getting to learn how to pick up venomous snakes as well as handle a few non-venomous ones.  I have never been scared of snakes (unlike my phobia of spiders) but had not had much chance to interact with them.  We have come across snakes on the wind farm sites and usually avoid them as I didn't know enough about them to know what was safe to deal with.  I am now a "snake-handler" and can boldly say that I can identify and deal with any problem snakes that I might come across.  Of course, that was all the confines of a controlled environment with very experienced handlers at the ready to show us how... not sure how I would fare in the real world but time will tell.

Brown House Snake - Lamprophis capensis

We started the day with looking at some lovely non-venomous harmless snakes.  We learned how to identify them and what their habits were and then had a quick look at them in their boxes.  We could pick them up and have a closer look and it was so amazing to feel their cool smooth bodies.  This snake is easy to identify by the whites stripe going through the eye.

An albino (melanistic?) Brown House Snake

Next up was the Egg-eater... beautiful little snake with no fangs what so ever... no reason to fear this little guy at all. Feed exclusively on eggs, and as this one is so small, I assume they eat very small bird's eggs.

Egg-eater Snake - Dasypeltis scabra

Common Slug-eater - Duberria lutrix

This is the totally harm-less and much persecuted Common Slug-eater.  He lives in your garden and helps you get rid of those pesky snails and slugs, yet he is summarily killed by gardeners who do not understand how awesome and useful he is never mind that he is so totally non-threatening.  He is easy to identify by the black stripe down the middle of his back and also the lovely yellow belly that is bordered by black stripes.  If you see one, please don't kill it!!!  Feed it a snail and say thank you for his valuable contribution to your garden.

Common slug eater in its defence position, rolled up like a roll of tobacco.

Aurora House Snake - Lamprophis aurora

This beautiful Aurora House snake is identified by the orange strip running down its back.  It is also completely harmless so please handle with care and don't kill it.

Another colour Aurora House Snake but still with the orange back stripe

Mole Snake - Pseudaspis cana

The only snake we handled that could be a problem to humans is the Mole Snake.  Although not venomous, it has razor sharp fangs and it can give a nasty bite.  The following day we learned how to handle them safely.  This one was hissing at us very nicely in his box... sounding like a real snake should.

The following day we were introduced to the big boys and were carefully shown how to pick them up with a hook and then catch the tail.  The correct stance and distance is of course important.  

Marcel demonstrating the correct stance and distance to hold a snake using a rope first

Female Boomslang - Dispholidus typus

We started with the Mole Snake and moved on to the beautiful Cape Cobra. After mastering those we tried our hand at picking up the lovely Boomslang, a very venomous snake but apparently quite docile with very few bites being reported.

Puff Adder - Bitis arietans

Our last snake to handle was the very scary Puff Adder.  Well known for biting hikers as their defence strategy is to lie as still as possible.... usually in the middle of a path, and relying on their markings to camouflage them.  This works, but the dear hiker of course does not see them and is likely to step on them, resulting in a good chance of being bitten.  

Their venom is cytotoxic and although you may not die from the actual venom, it attacks the flesh resulting in severe swelling and necrosis with severe pain.  The recovery time from a Puffy bite is long (could be months and months) with many medical procedures required.  Hence, those who know say they would prefer to be bitten by a Cape Cobra, as long as you are close to medical attention.  The Cobra has neurotoxic venom and this means that it attacks the respiratory and nervous systems.  If you do not get medical attention super fast, you will die as your breathing will stop.  However, if you get medical assistance quick enough, and it is possible to be put on a respirator to keep you breathing, you will survive and the recovery time is fairly short.  You could go home in less than 24 hours. 

Puff Adder being picked up with the double hooks

Puff Adders are treated differently to other snakes as they are relatively short.  If they are picked up with the one hook as we do with other snakes, the head is still too close to the tail and it is possible that they can double back and bite you as your hand will be on the tail.  Therefore, double hooks are used to pick them up as shown above.  First hook at first 3rd of the body and 2nd took at third 3rd of the body.  

Puffy in a box method

The slightly easier method of putting the Puffy in the box method was then demonstrated.  Just tip the box over and scoop the snake in with a hook.  Relatively easy.  

So now I am an official snake-handler, having passed my tests with 100% and 95%.  Even received an certificate which is FGASA approved (More about FGASA later).

Course participants with Dr Phelps in the beige cap in the front and Marcel in the red T-shirt on the left.

The facilitators/handlers - Marcel Witberg, Dr Tony Phelps (back|) and Elroy Arendse in the front middle.

And one last uplifting story.  There was a lady on the course who was literally petrified of snakes.  At first she refused to go forward to learn how to pick them up and when she did eventually go she burst into tears.  However, through the patience and guidance of the facilitators (Elroy and Marcel), she totally overcame that fear and by the end of the day she was pushing us aside to get to the snakes first!  Wow, what a transformation.  I was very impressed by her total turn-around.  A great testament to the value of doing a course like this.

Overcoming her fear of snakes.... yes it can be done.

If you would like to do the course, contact Marcel Witberg at witbergm@absamail.co.za or check out their website www.crepinstitute.co.za (currently under maintenance but check back a bit later).