This Bertie Peers guy is the Bertie in the picture above ( you can read more about him here
http://gosouthonline.co.za/fish-hoek-looking-back/ )
"Bertie Peers other great interest was snakes, having been introduced to them by Cyril French, a teacher at Rondebosch Boys High School who lived in Fish Hoek. Travelling to school by train, with some of his pupils, he would often produce a snake from his pocket and Bertie soon became interested enough to start his own small snake enclosure in his garden. Later he opened a Snake Park near the entrance to Cape Town Pier where visitors could see and hear about the snakes. They were all “milked” and so were safe for him to handle. He often bought snakes brought in by those who had caught them and one day, in 1939, he was bitten by a new snake that had been put into the enclosure before being milked. Having treated himself with an injection he went home, only to become very ill later. He died in hospital that night, leaving a wife and a young son. Victor Peers, who was in poor health, died a few months later."
The kiss originated when the first male reptile licked the first female reptile, implying in a subtle, complimentary way that she was as succulent as the small reptile he had for dinner the night before.