All Over Namibia

[Bushviper]

I think they might be more closely related than other Colubrid snakes. My reasoning (if you can call it that) is that even though the one is a burrower and thickset there is a Psammophylax that also gives live birth. That could be where they are from a similar lineage.

Then to go and wet that battery you have to think the one genus is venomous with fangs and the other is not, so possibly they are not that close. It is however something that could stimulate someone to see the relationship between these genera.

[Westley Price]

On Sunday I got a call out in the village. Guy said that there was a Black Mamba under the wood pile he uses to fire up his "donkie" for hot water. Remarkably, people here seem to be able to ID Black Mambas well so off I went with all my kit.

Upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised that his wood pile was probably 30cm high and less than a meter wide. I was expecting the worst. I started moving the pile slowly until I saw a tail. Looks like a Mamba! so I slowly continue until I see a glimpse of a narrow hood. So far, so good.

Then suddenly the snake shot out at me, and my first thought is Mozam! It was certainly a cobra and in the rush I could only think of a Mozam. I had glasses on to start with so no worries. I bagged the snake quickly and took it home for a good look.

When I opened the bag I immediately saw that this was no spitter. The large rostal gave it away. It was a young Anchietas Cobra. Pretty awesome as I had never seen a wild one.

Then came the tricky bit...taking pics. I usually tire snakes out in a shady spot until most of the aggression is gone and take picks in the sun once they're calm and still cool. I followed the same plan again this time. Here are some poor pics of it acting up while I am p!ssing it off.





After it started to calm, I was ready to get some good pics so I moved it to a more natural setting, but now she was too tired, but still made for okay pics.



See the enlarged rostral.



Next I tried messing with her a bit to get pics of the hood, but alas, she had other plans. Not the hooded pics I was hoping for, but still a nice observation nevertheless. Could make any Rinkhals jealous!





Tried getting her agro again by tapping her tail, but the more I tapped, the wider her mouth got, haha.



Watch for the sharp end!

[Lourance Klose]

Super catch and very cool observation.

[Warren Klein]

Nice catch Westley, the enlarged rostral does look quite diffent to N. annulifera. I wonder if you also get the banded variety of this species in your area?

[Westley Price]

Thanx guys.

HH, I have not seen the banded variety in this area (like I said, this is my first wild one), but I have seen some nice banded specimen from the Windhoek area.

A calico-like, semi banded one was also recently caught in Otjiwarongo (200km south of me). Below are a few pics that Brendon, a friend of mine from Otjiwarongo took with his cellphone. Some would say this snake is ugly, but I think it's stunning. Different to the norm.

[Bushviper]

Nice pictures and also a cool observation. This shamming seems to be more common than what we originally thought.

[Warren Klein]

Nice specimen, I like the speckling on the head.

I was quite surprised when I first saw a Forest cobra shame death although not all of them will do this.

[Westley Price]

I am currently in southern Namibia for the week helping out our exploration team and decided to do a quick walk in the veld yesterday, even though it was probably 15 degrees and quite wet seeing as it rained the entire Friday.

Didn't find too much, but I guess better than nothing.

Pachydactylus rugosus (found this one under a rock)



Love this pic





Agama sp. (I recon knobeli but not sure)









This Chondrodactylus sp I found out, but as I approached it noticed it didn't move. Turned out it was dead, and still limp so couldn't have been dead for long. No marks or visible injuries so possibly thermal shock of sorts.



Juvenile scolopendra sp.



Juvenile Solifuge



This cool little beetle is shaped like a coin and flattens itself completely when harassed. Must work like a charm when it's on rocky substrate but not so well on sand.





Just a few habitat shots out of interest







Panoramic



I also made a video if a Six-Eyed Crab Spider disappearing into the sand within a matter of second, but will first need to upload.

[Mitton]

That panoramic shot is beautiful.

Just love the rugosus.

[Fooble]

Great post Wes!

Dam those rugosus are nice!

As Mitton said that panoramic is killer!

[Westley Price]

Thanx guys!

[Westley Price]

Not a great video, but cool nevertheless how quickly the Six-Eyed Crab Spider disappears into the sand.

Apparently dangerously venomous.

http://vid127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/prcart001/P7270822.mp4

[Warren Klein]

Could that Namibian sky be any more blue!! You really live in a beautiful place Westley! I love your habitat shots with herp in foreground.

[MrG]

Great post.

[Westley Price]

Here's a type of snake feeding I had never seen before.

I was walking around the garden a few minutes ago, glass of wine in hand, picking herbs for a Friday night pizza when I came across this massacre.

A Rhinotyphlops schlegeli petersi raiding an ants nest under some bricks in the garden. He was really going at it, noticeably shoving his head deeper into the nest, and from the first picture it's obvious the ants didn't appreciate the visitor; they were evacuating with force.

For those who are not aware, many fossorial species, such as this one, feed exclusively on ant/termite eggs. So this is what is going on here. Strangely enough, the ants were not particularly aggressive and were not attacking the snake as one would expect. Strange.

Note the ants on the left removing all the eggs from the nest.







Very cool to witness.