PICS: Quest for the ‘fairly elusive’ dusky-bellied water snake leads rescuer southward
Most of the time, Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans tells us about his call-outs to rescue mambas, spitting cobras, pythons and twig snakes, just to mention a few.
However, over the weekend, Evans and his friends travelled to the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast to look for a “fairly elusive”, non-venomous species ‒ the dusky-bellied water snake (Lycodonomorphus laevissimus).
Evans explained that throughout Durban, and most of KZN/SA, the similar-looking brown water snake (L.rufulus) is common. It is often seen around ponds, or up in reeds, at night, hunting reed frogs. They are light to dark brown, with a pinkish-yellow belly.
He said the dusky-bellied is more elusive. They are found in some parts of the Durban South region, and become a bit more “common” the further south one goes. Still, they are quite elusive.
They feed on fish and frogs and seem to hunt mostly in the water, as per his friend, Miguel da Fonseca’s, observations.
Evans said adults are a lot darker than brown water snakes, with markings along their jawline, unlike brown water snakes. Adults also have a dark stripe on the belly.
“I have only seen two before, in the Midlands, and that was at least ten years ago. So I was very keen to see another, and to photograph one,” he said.
“We met up with Miguel, a South Coast snake rescuer, who knew where and how to find this species. He directed us to a stream in the middle of nowhere, and away we went, scanning the stream, and looking under rocks.”
Evans said in no time, Da Fonseca spotted one swim across the stream, and rest in some floating vegetation. A juvenile, although it did not stick around for long. It dived down and disappeared.
“We searched for what felt like 1.5 hours or so, until Miguel found another juvenile, this time under a rock. We were happy, although it was starting to go into the blue ‒ about to shed. They’re less pretty then, and I was being fussy about my models, as the only one I had pics of was a juvenile in the blue! Still, it was a treat to see,” Evans said.
He said that on their way back, at the end of a laborious time searching for these snakes, Da Fonseca spotted one in a crevice, right near the car.
“I was a little frustrated to see that, yet again, this snake, an adult, was thick in the blue,” Evans said.
“We tried poking it out with a piece of wire, and a second head appeared! This was a very pretty individual, thankfully. To our astonishment, as we kept trying to coax them out, a third head appeared and then a fourth! It was unbelievable!
“We managed to get three out, two adults (including the one in the blue), and a juvenile. The fourth went too far back in there.”
The snake rescuer said there was freshly shed skin in there.
“No wonder the one looked so pretty!
“It was such an exciting moment! We were taking turns photographing each snake, while Dr Carla Goede wrangled and got the snakes to pose for me (thanks Carla!)”
Evans said it was a special afternoon and thanked Da Fonseca for showing them the species and Dylan Leonard for transporting them.
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