Chad Keates Archives
On the 5th of May I hosted the second ‘Critter Walk’ of 2019, for a record breaking crowd. Unlike previous ‘Critter walks’, everyone who attended had to pay a small fee, which was donated to two Rhodes athletes in a effort to raise funds for their Taekwondo World Championships, in Brazil, later this year. Everyone met in front of the Life Sciences building and they were treated to a 45 minute snakes… Read More
Another great blog entry by Jessica Evans, that lists, explains and debunks some of the most popular myths pertaining to snakes. https://www.bite-sizedsci.com/single-post/2019/04/25/6-snake-myths—busted
Check out this awesome blog post by Sean McCabe, that details the reptiles of Grahamstown, and what makes them special. https://conservatemakhanda.home.blog/2019/04/25/reptiles-of-makhanda/
On the 8th of march 2019, I attended the WESSA/ Grocott’s Mail #CelebrateNaturalHeritage Bio-Bash and Photo Walk at the Makana Botanical Gardens (part of Scifest 2019). The day was designed to teach the youth of Grahamstown about the amazing wildlife that surrounds them. It also aimed to ignite some creative flair through encouraging artistic expression through photography. My colleagues and I helped out by guiding the students through the gardens and helping… Read More
On 16 December 2018, I ventured to Morgans bay, Eastern Cape with Megan Reid, for one night in search of as many as ‘herps’ as I could find. Whilst I was keen to see anything, I was particularly keen to see the regionally endemic Kentani Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion kentanicum), that calls Morgans Bay home. I stayed at the beautiful Yellowwood Forest Campsite, http://www.yellowwoodforest.co.za/, and managed to find many species of reptile and… Read More
Southern Africa plays host to just over 150 different species of frog. In the Eastern Cape you can find approximately 32 different species of frog. All but five species have been listed below. These include The Giant Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus), Natal-leaf Folding Frog (Afrixalus spinifrons), Hogsback Chirping Frog (Anhydrophryne rattrayi), Sharp-nosed Grass Frog (Ptychadena oxyrhynchus) and Hewitt’s Ghost Frog (Heleophryne hewitti). For more information on each species, click on their names. African… Read More
On Sunday the 5th of February I hosted the first critter walk of 2019. Unlike previous critter walks, this one was geared towards collecting food for the Grahamstown branch of the SPCA. The event was well received, with quite a few people coming on the day and donating dog and cat food. The day started out with a short snake demonstration, in which I showcased some of the snakes I had captured… Read More
From the 2nd to the 6th of October 2018 I joined Werner Conradie (Head Curator of Herpetology at Port Elizabeth Museum) for a herping expedition to western Kwazulu Natal. We joined a crew of scientists from all over the country in an effort to find as many animals as we could, as part of large scale forest-focussed project, headed by Stellenbosch University. Whilst other scientific groups were tasked with finding snails, birds,… Read More
Towards the end of last year I hosted a Birthday Critter Walk for a young Grahamstown boy and all his friends. Whilst some kids like like to go to the cinema, or to the Go Kart track for their birthdays, that doesn’t seem to hold for the youth of Grahamstown, whom have an insatiable appetite for nature. The day was a great success and whilst we weren’t able to find any cape… Read More
Chad Keates 