Saving Snakes

Category: C. LIZARDS | Date: Nov 25 2007 | By: admin

It was a quiet day at the snake farm today so thought I’d share an interesting find with you. In October 2007 I took our children for their school half term to Sand Island, an old style cottage resort on Tiwi, a beach along the South Coast of Kenya. On the second afternoon my son Eric Taylor, who is six years old, came up to me and said that he had found a very interesting Chameleon.

When I looked at what he had found I was surprised because although it was a Flap-necked Chameleon Chamaeleo delepis, the only large chameleon found in the area. What was strange about this one was that it was bright orange in colour. Having never seen, or even heard of one being this colour before, I decided to try and found out why.

Eric had actually found it on a Bougainvillea bush that had orange flowers. We released the Chameleon then and there and looked for it and found it again each morning over the next three days. Each day it was the same colour and when disturbed climbed up to the top of the bush where the flowers were more orange. Imagine that! an orange chameleon. It sounds more like a tropical night club than a fact. Just goes to show we learn something new every day.

Well done Eric

Photo by Royjan Taylor

Photo by Royjan Taylor

Technorati : Chamaeleo delepis, Flap-necked Chameleon

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Category: 3. Pythonidae - BOAS AND PYTHONS | Date: Nov 24 2007 | By: admin

This evening I had a great phone call from Joff Minns, a good friend of mine who runs a Dhow trip North of Lamu. On the evening of the19th of November 2007 the Tusitiri was mored about 200 meters from the shore in a bay at Ndau, a few kilometres South West of Kiwaiyu Island. All the guests and crew had settled in for the night aboard the big dhow. The following morning at about 5 am, Joff was woken up by one of his crew members. “Amuka Bwana! Tunataka torchi yako kutafuta nyoka” he said. Literally translated it means “wake up Sir! we need your torch to look for a snake”. Thinking it must be a stow away from when they collected supplies in Lamu town, Joff got up and went with the crew member wondering whether it would be a House Snake or a Speckled Bush Snake.

He got the shock of his life when it turned out to be a 14 foot African Rock Python Python sebae. Following the wet tracks it had left on the deck it was obvious that the snake had climbed up the ladder on the side during the night and passed through guests and crew members who were sleeping soundly on the deck oblivious to their visitor. You can imagine how the guests must have reacted when woken up to be shown what had climbed on board. Joff who has been exposed to our snake enthusiasm in the past managed to apprehend the snake and get it into a dingy tethered to the side of the dhow. They carried the snake to the shore and released it accordingly.

It is very strange that a python would be there at all. He believes that it got caught by the outgoing tide and by luck bumped into the dhow where it managed to climb up the ladder. What a very lucky snake and an amazing snake story indeed. Joff said he has some pictures which I can’t wait to see. I’m sure you feel the same way so will post one or two on this blog once I get them.

Meanwhile I have a picture of a Python about the same size taken three years ago.

Photo by Prof. Ralf Sautter

Technorati : African Rock Python, Central African Rock Python, Python sebae

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Category: 6. Elapidae - COBRAS and MAMBAS | Date: Nov 24 2007 | By: admin

Yesterday we noticed that one of our Black Mambas Dendroaspis polylepis was still sick. It has been sick for a few days now. It developed an infection in the mouth associated with Mouth Rot (Necrotic stomatitis). The Bio-Ken team removed it from its cage and Sanda Ashe, my fellow Director, gave it a Oxytetracycline injection, about 0.5 ml sub-cutaneously. The mamba was returned to its cage and is looking much better this morning.

Bio-Ken holds about 46 Black Mambas in its milking program. The snakes are milked every three weeks and the venom is dessicated and stored. The Venom is then moved on to make antivenom and is also used in medical research both of which end up saving peoples lives. The method of keeping the Mamba’s at Bio-Ken was instigated by the late James Ashe who founded Bio-Ken in 1980. The system has been improved over the years and our oldest Mamba’s have been with us for about 18 years now.

Mambas are difficult to keep in captivity as they are very nervous and especially Black Mambas, some never settle down. About 3 in every 5 collected are like this so we release the Mambas that don’t settle after six weeks of trying. Of coarse a snake in the wild is better than in a cage, but antivenom is a necessity and almost all the snakes are collected from where they are causing a problem. If we did not remove these snakes they would certainly be killed.

Photo by Wolfgang Wuster

Photo by Royjan Taylor

It would be good to note that availability of good Antivenom and information on treatment can be obtained through ” The James Ashe Antivenom Trust” commonly known as JAAT.

Technorati : Black Mamba, Dendroaspis polylepis

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Category: 5. Atractaspididae - ATRACTASPIDS | Date: Nov 23 2007 | By: admin

Today Anthony Childs saved these two Small Scaled Mole Vipers (Burrowing Asps) Atractaspis microlepidota at Elsa’s in Meru National Park. They were found at different times on the Rock. On putting them in the release box they started getting frisky to the extent of fighting, there was a little blood but he believes they were mating, as at one point they were completely wrapped in each others embrace. He released them at a location within the National Park where they would be less likely to come into contact with people and maybe start a family where they would not be disturbed. Well done Anton!

NOTE * Elsa’s is an up market lodge in Meru National Park. Photo by Anthony Childs.

Technorati : Atractaspis microlepidota, Small Scaled Burrowing Asp, Small Scaled Mole Viper

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Category: 4. Colubridae - TYPICAL SNAKES | Date: Nov 22 2007 | By: admin

This afternoon we collected two Speckled Bush Snakes Philothamnus punctatus from the Jimba area west of Bio-Ken. One normal, i.e. green in colour the second blue, a rare colour phase which is actually reasonably common in the Watamu area. The snakes were collected from two separate villages, both in good condition and were both released at the Snake farm about an hour latter. After the sad story of the one killed earlier in the day, it feels great to have been able to save two of the same species, in the same area, in the same day. Photos were not taken so we have posted two from our library for reference. Photos - Green by Sienna Burns, Blue by Dannie Throne

Technorati : Philothamnus punctatus, Speckled Bush Snake

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Category: 4. Colubridae - TYPICAL SNAKES | Date: Nov 22 2007 | By: admin

Being seen driving ‘Olive’ our old Bio-Ken Snake Farm land-rover a group of building site workers pulled me over to say very proudly that they had just killed a very dangerous Green Mamba Dendroaspis angusticeps that tried to attack them while they were eating breakfast in a road side kiosk. On inspecting the snake I found that they had killed a juvenile Speckled Bush Snake Philothamnus punctatus, a non venomous species that is completely harmless.

I was actually quite annoyed about the whole thing but getting angry and shouting is not going to change their perception of these very misunderstood creatures. I explained with great enthusiasm the beauty and importance of the said snake species and showing them the amazing colours and markings managed to put it into context by saying how do you feel when you see a group of children jumping up and down when they have just killed a beautiful sun bird? One replied “yes! such a waste isn’t it”. “EXACTLY!” I said and left the group smiling but feeling quite sad about the whole thing. We could not save this one but I am sure I have already saved the next Bush Snake that crosses the path of either of the four workmen. Photo by Royjan Taylor

Technorati : Philothamnus punctatus, Speckled Bush Snake

3 responses so far

Category: 4. Colubridae - TYPICAL SNAKES | Date: Nov 22 2007 | By: admin

Yesterday afternoon we rescued a Red Head Beaked Snake Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus from Mr. Richard Bennett’s house in Watamu. It had first been wrongly identified as a Black Mamba Dendroaspis polylepis by the house staff. Fortunately it was not killed and we were called to remove it, just goes to show that even a snake as docile as the Red Head Beaked Snake can very easily be killed just for looking similar to a dangerous one. The snake was released into the wild about half a kilometre behind the snake farm. Photo by Mike Dobiey.

Technorati : Beaked Snake, Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

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Category: 4. Colubridae - TYPICAL SNAKES | Date: Nov 21 2007 | By: admin

This morning a good specimen of the rare Watamu Bark Snake Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii was collected from Mr. Mickey Fernandez’s house on plot 41, Watamu. The snake was taken back to Bio-Ken for further study. Several of these snakes have been collected from the beach plots in Watamu. This means that hopefully their numbers in the wild are still good in the area. over 27 years of recording at Bio-Ken we have found all specimens between plot 5 and temple point at the end of the beach and not anywhere else. Photo by Dr. Wolfgang Wuster

Technorati : Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii, Watamu Bark Snake

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Category: A. SNAKES, F. OTHER STUFF | Date: Nov 21 2007 | By: admin

Bio-Ken Snake Farm in Watamu, Kenya is actively involved in the saving of snakes. This is our first post and over the next few weeks we hope to introduce you to the active work we are doing in the field. Please check out our web site until then www.bio-ken.com Below is a picture of an Egyptian Cobra Naja haje that was saved from being beaten to death two years ago.The photograph was taken a last year by Anton Childs of Bio-Ken and although the snake has a broken back and therefore will never be released as you can see she is looking great and has helped us address the subject of killing snakes unnecessarily with this excellent portrait.

Technorati : Egyptian Cobra, Naja haje

6 responses so far