STEED MAHER: VENOM, MYTHS AND CONSERVATION: PROTECTING SNAKES IN A CHANGING WORLD
There was a great turn out for Steeds talk!
Did you know that there are 176 species of snakes in Southern Africa? Snakes are often a feared and misunderstood part of our ecosystem. Often the first reaction may be to kill them.
Steed spoke from his passion and wealth of information and experience on snakes. He focused his talk on the snakes that occur in our area.
The three highly venomous snakes found in Betty’s Bay are:
| Snake | Venom | Possible symptoms of a bite |
| Boomslang | Haemotoxic: affects the clotting mechanism of the blood. | The bite site bleeds, and later bleeding occurs from the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth. Eventually there is severe bleeding, vomiting of blood and bleeding from the bowels. After a few days the kidneys my fail and there might be bleeding from the brain. |
| Cape Cobra | Neurotoxic: affects the nervous systems | Blurred vision, slurred speech, drowsiness, vomiting and difficulty in swallowing and breathing. Respiratory failure occurs as paralysis occurs in the respiratory muscles. |
| Puff Adder | Cytotoxic: affects the tissues and muscle cells. | Pain and swelling occurs at the site of the bite. Tissue necrosis is common and the victim may lose a limb. |
If a snake bites you, it is important to be able to identify the snake to determine if it is a highly venomous one. This will enable you to get the appropriate medical treatment and anti-venom as soon as possible. A Doctor should administer anti-venom in a medical facility.
There are also a number of non-venomous snakes in our area. The African Snakebite Institute is a great resource for information. Below is their poster that lists the common snakes found in Betty’s Bay. You can also download a clear copy from their website.
https://www.africansnakebiteinstitute.com/posters/#snake-poster-main.
Steed brought Shelby to the presentation. Shelby is a 16 year-old Brown House snake and he invited people to hold her. Jane and some other people took up his offer!
It was a very informative presentation, and showed how valuable it is to be able identify the snakes we might encounter in Betty’s Bay and surrounds. This will help people to have an appropriate response to the venomous ones, and to leave the harmless ones alone. Please call a snake handler to catch a snake and release it in a safe environment, rather than kill it.
Steed also shared some of the common myths about snakes.
Thank you to Steed for all the time you put into preparing this presentation and for your passion for snakes and their survival.
For those who missed the talk, Steed is open to repeating a shortened version. Please email bettysbayconservancy@gmail.com if you would be interested in attending the talk at some stage.
Consult the website for more information on snakes, scorpions, frogs, chameleons, snakebite first aid and other resources: African Snakebite Institute
Carol Clark, Chair of the BBC