PE Express 1 March 2017

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‘INCREASE IN BOOMSLANG ACTIVITY’: DRY CONDITIONS TO BLAME

Influx of snakes in suburbs TANYA VAN ZYL

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RY conditions and regular veld fires are mainly the reasons why there is a definite increase in snakes invading residential areas. This is according to Mark Marshall, snake expert and owner of Sandula Conservation. In most of the cases he responded to last year, puff adders were the species that invaded homes the most, but now there has been “a changeover of the snake species”, Marshall said. “There is a drastic increase in boomslang activity in residential areas. This is because more birds are now breeding at or close to people’s houses, which in turn attracts the boomslang,” he said. “Because of the dryness of the veld, wild animals are now forced to move into residential areas,” Marshall said. Dr Charles Hayward, veterinarian at the 9th Avenue Veterinary Clinic in Walmer agreed. “It is very dry and because of the

drought, veld fires and a lot of urbanisation taking place, their natural vegetation is becoming limited, so there is an influx of snakes in areas they would not normally be seen in,” Hayward explained.

A puff adder entered a yard in Circular Drive by slithering over a brick wall. PHOTO:MARK MARSHALL Hayward lives on a smallholding and said that they regularly come across snakes at their home, including puff adders, but added that

there has definitely been an increase in the number of boomslang. “Last month we caught two boomslang and three puff adders at our home,” he said. According to Marshall, the reason for the slight decrease in puff adders “is because the number of their prey (rats and mice) have also decreased – again, due to the dryness. But just because they are less does not mean they are not there,” Marshall explained. In March last year the PE Express reported on the high number of puff adders that were caught in residential areas. Marshall caught 13 puff adders, as well as other venomous snakes in just one weekend. Marshall said he responded to around 79 cases of puff adder invasions a month in 2016. “They are still around, but just not as many as last year.” He successfully caught around 30 boomslang since the beginning of January this year, but has had at least 50 calls from homeowners who saw boomslang at their homes.

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River Mile dominated by maiden wins

Amica de Jager (photo) and Ian Venter capitalised on good swimming conditions to record their maiden wins in the River Mile feature events at the SPAR Summer Festival in Cannonville just outside Port Elizabeth on Sunday, February 26. Read more about it on page 24.

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