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This is my first report post on SA Reptiles. so I'll start off with a quick introduction.
I lived in JBay for about 6 years before moving back to Pretoria 4 years ago. In that time I had 1 priority in life - fishing! Since I caught most species of fish in and around Gauteng in 2 years, I have taken up herping (and scorping) in the last year or so.
My girlfriend and I went to visit my folks in JBay earlier this month and I managed to sneak away most days and get anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours of herping in. JBay seems very rich in herps (compared to Pretoria) and I always managed to find something interesting.
Since this is my first herping post I apologise in advance for any errors. I am particularly bad with amphibians. Any assistance with ID's would be appreciated if not labelled.
JBay has many empty stands and areas unsuitable for building, with large tracts of land penetrating right into the suburbs that continue far out into the surrounding semi-fynbos. These areas were accessible within 100m of our front door, in the heart of town (C-Place).
My first find was next to a stream - I lifted a large cardboard box to reveal two snakes! All I could see were the back 3/4's of the body, the heads were hidden under the compressed grass. Since my run-in with a stiletto (which was also hiding its head under some grass) last April, I have learned not to poke a snake without being 100% sure (!!!!!!!). My first thought was slug-eater, but the colour was 'wrong' - they were both a uniform pale brown-grey. Needless to say, my hesitance enabled them to make a swift departure into the thick grass. drat.
The following night I went back to the same area with my headlamp and quickly found a lovely adult female Brown House Snake warming hersef on the edge of the road.
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next day i went to another spot near home and almost immediately found another snake - again under a cardboard box. It was the same species as before (same colour, shape, location and behaviour) and this time I could confirm that they were indeed Common Slug Eaters, albeit rather 'monotone' . It seems the whole neighbourhood was in the blue at the same time...
The next day I found another that was a bit better looking
I tried a spot nearer to the mall, a bit drier and flatter. I got this little BHS and also spotted but failed to procure a Herald
A few days later I tried the spot behind the churches (there are like 5 churches of different denominations all in a row)
I found a clutch of small snake eggs (assume Herald) and some frogs
I believe this is some sort of Caco?
and some sort of stream frog? they were both under the same rock
and an adorable little gecko
About 100m north of these finds I spotted a dumped ceramic toilet in the bush next to a house. I flipped it to reveal nothing, but right next to it was a heavy duty black bag, folded in half. I flicked the flap over with my snake hook to reveal this beauty .....
I called in a local friend who relocated her to a safer place further away from people. Note I took the photos on someones driveway lawn, thats how close she was to the house.
The same friend recommended a spot up a hill just outside town for some other species. I was really hoping for a Coral Cobra as a few had been found there in the past.
I found a damp spot up the side of the hill and found my first Acontias! I believe this is a form of A. meleagris
Two rocks later my eyes nearly popped out of my skull when the unmistakably intense orange of a Spotted Harlequin was revealed... I was so stoked to have the privelage of encountering one
At the top of the hill I came across a little Angulate Tortoise
On the way down I managed to find the only scorpion of my trip, a beautiful little Uroplectes formosus
And then I glimpsed another Spotted Harlequin make its escape into the soft sand under the rock I had lifted.
While in another part of JBay I spotted what I thought was a chicken nest, but the egss were all wrong! This was obviously a Guineafowl nest, loaded with 20 eggs!
I also explored a bit of burnt veld next to the golf club and found myself two Delalandes Beaked Blind Snakes (I think)
Back near home I found another Acontias
On another day I went for a walk in Paradise Beach, just a few km down the coast from JBay. I spotted a bright green Philothamnus explode out of some long grass into some low shrubs as I walked by, it was too fast to id.
I also found a really big puff adder at the Seekoei estuary nature reserve, it was a brown-red colour on its back. Unfortunately it ducked into a tool shed before I could get a photo.
I went back at night to looks for chameleons but only found several Rain Spiders on their eggs
last find of the trip was this beautiful little Parrot-Beaked Dwarf Tortoise.. he was tiny at barely 13cm but was actually a full-grown adult
I was really expecting more Heralds and chameleons but I was certainly not disappointed in my finds and I will certainly be keen to give it another go in that area.
