Durban snake catcher Nick Evans has reflected on his 2022, which was made up of snake rescues, research, snakebites and snake versus pet incidents he was alerted to.
Evans said it had been a tough year for many, including him, but a lot of exciting things happened.
On snake rescues, he said it was another successful year of rescuing snakes from people’s homes. All sorts of species were saved.
“I think through the efforts of so many, we are seeing more people each year call for snakes to be relocated, rather than just killing them,” Evans said.
He thanked those who called and said well done to all who educate and rescue snakes.
“I had many exciting and thrilling calls, which I’ll remember forever,” Evans said.
Touching on research, Evans said this was an aspect of his work and had probably become his favourite. He said learning more about snakes and making new discoveries was tremendously exciting.
“It was another highly productive year in terms of research results. I’m working on a variety of projects. Some of the data collected on black mambas, green mambas, and southern African pythons, has been mind-blowing! Durban is a fascinating place to study snakes – there are a lot of them!”
He said he would need to start writing up the results of some of the studies soon.
In 2022, he started a few new projects as well and this has been exciting.
Speaking on snakebites, Evans said he was called for a large number of black mambas in the greater Durban area in 2022.
“Yet, despite all these mambas living among all these people, in a city famous for mambas, I did not record a single black mamba bite within the greater Durban area. A few in other parts of the province. However, that’s not to say there were none.
“I try my best to network and hear about bites to document, but I don’t hear about every snakebite. Still, if there were mamba bites, there weren’t many. They’re high profile, usually. Shows you something about mambas, hey?”
Evans said the stiletto snake, unsurprisingly, was responsible for the most bites in 2022 by far, as is the case every year.
“That’s only because people keep picking them up!
“I didn’t record any bites on humans in the greater Durban area, from Mozambique spitting cobras, green mambas, boomslang or vine snakes. There were a few night adder bites.”
Evans asked for KZN doctors to let him know if they hear about a snakebite in Durban or elsewhere in the province.
On another highlight, snakes versus pets, Evans said dog-venomous snake incidents were far more common.
“With mambas, I recorded around 10 cases. Again, really not a lot, all things considered, although we’d of course like to see zero.
“Incidents involving Mozambique spitting cobras and stiletto snakes were far more common. With stiletto snakes, most of the snakes were killed, and while dogs were bitten, they recovered with veterinary care.
“I didn’t record Mozambique spitting cobra bites, but many cases of them spitting in dogs’ eyes – defending themselves. This is easily treatable, compared to a bite,” Evans said.
He asked vets and the public to help him in maintaining a database of these incidents.
“Lastly, thank you to every one of you for another year of your support. It has, as always, meant so much to me, and I am very grateful. I hope I can educate and entertain you further in 2023,” Evans said.
He also thanked the companies who have helped him for another year, with his bakkie or equipment: Opposite Lock 4WD & Vehicle Accessories, the African Snakebite Institute, Dubcorp, JETBeam South Africa, Takla products, Buckenham 4x4, Jonsson Workwear and Groundcover Leather Company.
Daily News