Snake rescuer, Miguel da Fonseca of Umkomaas and his wife Micaela, received a photo last week Tuesday of two boomslang snake hatchlings which had been killed.
They immediately headed out to where the hatchlings were located at a home in Pennington, to collect and preserve them.
“They are not common in the area and we felt preserving them could serve as a wonderful opportunity for education,” he said.
When Miguel and Micaela arrived, they were only able to find one of the dead hatchlings.
However, while there, he spoke to some of the local residents to get more information about the snakes.
“While we were all talking, I decided to shake a shrub and, as I did so, I spotted another baby boomslang (this time alive) and excitedly announced it,” he said.
He called to Micaela to get his snake bucket and they started searching in the shrub.
It resulted in two more boomslang being found.
This came as a surprise as the snakes had not been seen for a few hours.
Miguel cut away at the shrub in order to see if any more hatchlings were hiding inside.
After carefully cutting and inspecting each branch, others emerged, much to his delight.
“As we were doing that, more slithered out from holes in the facebrick of the house and from under the patio. After about five hours of looking, we found 10 beautiful hatchlings.”
It is believed the snakes hatched sometime during the previous night.
Miguel added that, contrary to what some believe, hatchling venomous snakes are just as venomous as the adults.
Snakes normally lay their eggs and move on, so no was on the property.
The hatchlings have since been released in a nearby forest.
“It usually takes them just over a year to grow into their full adult colour, when they are roughly about one metre in length,” explained Miguel.
“People also need to be aware that at this time of year there will be snakes hatching. Although this may sound daunting to some there is no need to worry.”
Miguel urged the public not to kill or harm snakes as they are important for the environment.
“If you do see any snakes, do not try to kill or capture them, but rather call a competent snake catcher.”
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