Black-necked Spitting Cobra
This snake is a large cobra that may exceed 2 m in length. The Black-necked Spitting Cobra is active both during the day and at night and covers fair distances in search of food. It is also at home in trees.
This snake is a large cobra that may exceed 2 m in length. The Black-necked Spitting Cobra is active both during the day and at night and covers fair distances in search of food. It is also at home in trees.
Boulenger’s garter snake is secretive and seldom encountered. Juveniles have 12 – 17 white or pale-yellow bands on the body and tail that fade with age. Adults are usually plain blackish brown or dark brown with a lighter belly and may have 8 – 17 narrow, pale white bands. It is a fossorial snake that may emerge at night from an underground shelter or deserted termite mound.
This is our largest cobra species and may exceed 2.7 m in length. Adults are a light to medium shiny brown that darkens, becoming black towards the tail. The Brown Forest Cobra is active both during the day and night and favours dense bush where it hunts for small mammals, birds, frogs and other snakes. It is extremely shy and quick to escape – bites are rare.
The Brown House Snake, true to its name, frequents human dwellings where it feeds largely on rodents and lizards. It is completely harmless and relies on muscle power to constrict its prey. It is widespread in South Africa and very common in suburban gardens.
This is one of the most common and widespread snakes in Africa. It varies in colour from black to brown, olive-green, russet-red and beige. It has a light stripe from the nose through the top of the eye to the back of the head, a unique feature of the Brown House Snakes.
A smallish snake averaging 30-50 cm with a maximum length of 97 cm. It is light to dark brown with a salmon-pink to yellow coloured belly. Snakes from the Western Cape are often much darker.
The Bug-eyed House Snake is found in the dry scrub of the Northern Cape, adjacent Western Cape and Namibia. It inhabits Namaqua flats and rocky outcrops.
This snake varies in colour from near black to dark or light brown, beige, yellow or speckled while juveniles have a dark band on the throat. The Cape Cobra is easily confused with the Mole Snake and the Black Spitting Cobra.