Nothing beats finding a snake, on a hike, in the middle of the night 馃
The Bionerds was ambling along a trail in the forest when a 'stick' across the pathway caught our eye, just in the periphery of our torch-light... and it turned out to be this beautiful Brown Water Snake.
This species lives a life dependable on freshwater aquatic systems - making them fall in perfectly with our Wet Wednesdays.
This was one of the largest specimens we have seen to date, estimated at around 50cm in length.
They are drab olive brown, with a beautiful peachy pearly sheen on their bellies.
They have round pupils, and an indistinct head.
These snakes have a preferred diet of small fish, tadpoles and frogs, and are really adept swimmers which can dive and hunt underwater for a few minutes at a time. They also apparently eat other reptiles every now and then.
All the specimens we have found has been along streams in mountainous areas - but they are also found in the lowland habitats.
This species is harmless to man, and very docile.
Lycodonomorphus rufulus - Brown Water Snake, Bruin Waterslang - Grootvadersbos, Overberg, Western Cape, South Africa.
Strawberry Hill Farm, CapeNature, Go! Magazine SA, Weg-tydskrif,
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