All Over Namibia

[Mitton]

Nice find, how big was it?

[Westley Price]

Thanx guys.

I am not sure whether their flat mouth combined with the dorsal ridge plays a role, but could be.

Eugene, it is about 90cm I would guess. Nice big one. I find quite a lot of Mozams, so when I approached this snake in my car, I initially thought it was a Mozam and only pulled over to wait for it to move off the road, but then I decided just to make 100% sure and confirm it's a Mozam...lo and behold, a Cape File, haha.

[Westley Price]

So I am spending a few days in the south of Nam again and have been finding a lot more of the same species posted earlier in the topic, so I didn't even bother photographing them.

But, over the weekend I did manage to get a lifer! Went cruising a lot earlier than usual, and at 18H30 I saw a Psammophis in the road. It was quite cool so he wasn't too active and I simply pulled over and slowly walked over and tailed him. That is when I noticed that this was not the typical notosticus or trinasalis.

I didnt bring my snake books down with me as I am able to ID most indigenous herps, but this one had me stumped. I could see that it is Psammophis, but I could not ID the species.

After sending a few pics to some friends with field guides handy, we concluded this is P. trigrammus. To be honest, I have not seen pictures of this species except for field guides. Most of the pictures on the net are mis-IDs. So this was a great find for me! After herping an area for so long, it's not often you get to find a new species.









And just a bad picture showing the typical posture of the entire genus, moving with the head raised.

[Mitton]

Nice fine, I really like the 3rd pic.
I is very different with the long head and big eyes. Or is it just the angle of some of the pics?

[Amphibian]

That's a lovely find Wes. Great photos to document it as well.

[Westley Price]

Thanx guys

Mitton, it's head was possibly a bit longer and more slender than other species, but not significantly. I would rather say the body is more slender (but still healthy) than other Psammophis, exaggerating the head.

[Chopper 1]

How did you catch that guy - you must have had a rugby team to help or you are extremely fit!!

[Bushviper]

Always good to see the rare ones too. Happiness is ........

[Westley Price]

Thaxn guys.

Chopper, like I said, it was very cool so the snake was not particularly active.

If it was a warm day I would have had a chase on my hands!

[Chopper 1]

Jallas?

[Fooble]

Stunning post Wes!

[Westley Price]

I am up in the north of Namibia again and finally found something worth posting for a change!

Found this little guy on this road this morning, cloudy and a bit of rain, laying still in the middle of a dirt road.

Difficult to photograph due to their skittich nature and speed, but here are a few decent shots.

Psammophylax tritaeniatus

[Eyelash]

I absolutely love them !

Thanks for sharing Wes!

Regards
Louis

[Westley Price]

Another species which I haven't posted on this topic before.

Juvenile Pseudaspis cana

I am always surprised at how much this species reminds me of Skaapstekers, although not colour-wise, but general morphology. I wonder how closely they are related.







And a picture in-hand for size reference.

[Warren Klein]

Very nice Mole snake! Only wish they would keep that pattern into adult hood.