A warm heart for cold-blooded creatures, Ballito snake catcher shares slithery tales

Flying in the face of danger is a daily occurrence for resident North Coast snake catcher, Neville Wolmarans.

Together with wife and snake catching partner, Helen, Neville also owns the Ndlondlo Reptile Park at Sugar Rush Park.

Born in northern Zambia, Neville grew up in bush camps while his father worked as a field engineer for the British government.

“My love for nature and animals began when I was a young boy. I was home schooled because we often moved and I remember snake experts coming past when they were writing their books,” he said.

“They changed my perception of snakes and other ‘scary’ animals from a position of fear to that of curiosity.”

To attend high school, Neville was shipped to Nelspruit, after which he joined the air force before working on mines in the area.

After showing an interest in mining’s impact on the environment and animals, mine management suggested he focus on developing a career in that area.

“The mine paid for my diploma in environmental control and management. I worked there for a few years before moving to the North Coast in 1994.”

Neville joined a workshop with renowned snake catcher Don Stander, a pioneering figure in local herpetology (the study of snakes).

At this time, Neville was on a snake catching expedition in the Namaqualand when a serious car accident led to the loss of his right leg.

“It was difficult of course, because my career had been built around my ability to be mobile. Being partially handicapped was never going to stop me, however, and with God’s help, I figured out a way to do everything that I previously could.”

Since then, Neville worked with reptiles at the now defunct Crocodile Valley Nature Park, before opening the Ndlondlo Reptile Park in 2006.

The park now has a home at Sugar Rush Park.

When not maintaining Ndlondlo or entertaining visitors, Neville is one KwaZulu-Natal’s best known snake catchers along with Helen.

“In our call-out area, which is between the Umdloti and Tugela rivers and about 100km inland, we manage between 800 and 900 rescues a year. This includes other snake catchers who log their rescues with us,” he said.

Where necessary, these snakes are brought to Ndlondlo, where they are homed in enclosures until capacity is reached.

They are then taken to an undisclosed location which is around 3 hours away, so that they can be reintroduced into a pristine environment.

All of these rescues are logged as part of a citizen science project which aims to track numbers and distribution areas of individual species.

“People think of snakes as a lower order of animal, with not much brainpower. What we continue to find with this project is that they are highly adaptable and able to live among humans when they form a routine.”

Given the dangerous nature of his work, Neville has had a number of close calls over his career.

“I am actually allergic to antivenom, so this has been a problem a few times, most notably 3 years ago when I was bitten by a green mamba. We fortunately pre-empted anaphylaxis thanks to the team at Alberlito Hospital aware of my situation, but it was still very serious.”

Other than the real close calls, Neville fondly recalls his run-in with discarded pieces of hose pipe and plastic snakes that he is often called to rescue.

If you are ever in need of snake catching, call Ndlondlo Reptile Park on 082 561 4969.

You can also visit the myriad creatures and critters on site daily from 9am-3pm.

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