Article of the Month
January 2015
Knowledge is Power
Cape Snake Conservation was founded by Grant Smith. A person who is absolutely passionate about the conservation towards the snakes of Cape Town. He does this by writing up and sharing digestible articles and videos on his blog over on his website. One of his aims is to educate people into over-coming their fear of snakes by empowering them with knowledge.
A little more about Grant.
In 2013 he qualified with a BTech in Nature Conservation and has worked extremely hard towards building a free and comprehensive resource for people wanting to learn more about Cape Town's snakes. The idea behind this is to build a organisation which not only conserves snakes through research but that helps people to overcome their fears and learn to live in harmony with these marvels of nature as he says. He is currently working on a rehabilitation project at the Orange River Mouth. His dream is to make Cape Town the most snake friendly city in South Africa.
Like myself, Grant has an extraordinary passion towards a snake that is extremely rare in the Western Cape. The Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) also known by some as the Ring-Necked Spitting Cobra is a small snake averaging around 90-120 cm long and is closely related to the true cobra family in that it belongs to the Elapidae family. Although not belonging to the Naja Genus, but to the monotypic Genus, Hemachatus. Other factors which break the true cobra bond include that the Rinkhals has keeled dorsal scales, is viviparous (gives birth to live young) and that it has to raise its head to, not spit, but rather spray it's venom where as other true "spitters" can spray their venom without needing to raise their head.
Grant has managed to do some intensive research on the Rinkhals by conducting a field data survey to obtain more recordings of this rare Elapid in the Western Cape. The study confirmed that the Rinkhals was found in areas such as the Helderberg Basin and Steenbras Nature Reserve however this could not conclude if the species was stable or declining. Recordings in areas such as the Cape Flats where Rinkhals used to be common seem to have been lost, obviously due to habitat destruction.
Hopefully in the upcoming years, we as a reptile community team will be able to fund more extensive field data surveys in search of the endangered Rinkhals. I have some ideas towards this in the near future and will definitely be making a plan to obtain more recordings of this once common species.
"People often fear what they don’t understand – and fear is what leads to both the persecution of snakes and many unnecessary incidents of snake bite." - Grant Smith, 2011
Grant with a Rinkhals
Credit: Elroy Arendse
Grant has done a outstanding job so far and I know that his passion will carry on towards something greater. Cape Snake Conservation is a fantastic place to learn and educate yourself about snakes. As Grant says, one of the most rewarding aspects of what he does is seeing the change in someones expression when they finally take the plunge to hold their first snake. It’s as if a weight is lifted and with that burden gone, the fear often turns to excitement!. He couldn't be more correct.
Grant has written up some amazing articles on his site as well as some excellent identification videos, you can find three of his identification videos posted below on three different snakes. I plan to learn much from him in the years to come, he truly is a role model in the herpetological industry.
Grant doing what he does best, educating! with a tubed female Puff Adder
Credit: Elroy Arendse
Mole Snake Identification 101
Cape Cobra Identification 101
Puff Adder Identification 101
I will be writing up a few amazing articles this year, so stay posted every month. I've got a article on the Rinkhals coming up sometime this year, as well as a article on Breeding and Morphs, a article about the types of venom and a whole load of other interesting things.