Chad Keates Archives
On Sunday the 18th of march I hosted a private snake ‘walk and talk’ for the nature club of Graham High School. Although it was intended as a two part event, only the talk took place because of the bad weather conditions. Due to the cold weather, and the intermittent thunderstorms, we were unable to go out and explore the wilder parts of Grahamstown, in search of reptiles and frogs. Nevertheless, the… Read More
The painted reed frog is the most widespread species of reed frog in Southern Africa, with a distribution that stretches from mid Western Cape, along the coast, to the top of Mozambique. Painted reed frogs are generally quite small with a maximum body size of approximately 33mm. Although restricted to the reeds and similar vegetation, along the fringes of waterbodies, the species is widespread and can be found in grassland, savannah, forest… Read More
On Wednesday the 14th of February I delivered two back-to-back snake awareness talks at Victoria Girls High School (VGHS) in Grahamstown. The talks, which touched on snake anatomy, behaviour and ecology, were very well received by both classes. Although many of the girls were frightened by the sight of a live snake, most of them took the opportunity to interact with the live snakes on display. Thanks goes to VGHS, and more… Read More
On Saturday the 17th of March I hosted my third critter walk. The event was well received with approximately 35 people attending on the day. The day started out with a short snake demonstration, in which I showcased some of the snakes I had captured the week before on callouts, and was followed by a two hour ‘critter walk’ on a nearby farm. Whilst the weather was not great to start with,… Read More
Grahamstown, and its surrounds, plays host to high level of animal diversity. The complexity of the habitat coupled with favourable climatic and environmental conditions has resulted in ideal conditions for many species of frog. In and round Grahamstown, there are just over 15 species of frog. This list contains all the frog species that I have found here. Some are not on the list because I do not have decent photos of them yet…. Read More
Recently myself, Luke Kemp and Courtney Hundermark ventured to St Francis in search of a small, range-restricted species of gecko called the salt marsh gecko (Cryptactites peringueyi). The gecko is commonly found at base of restios, in and around salt marshes. Although we knew where to look, it certainly did not mean that we found them easily. After spending the whole morning hunting through restios along the estuary, on the outskirts of… Read More
Grahamstown, and the area surrounding, plays host to some amazing reptile diversity. if you are keen on reptiles, like myself, and wish to find them all, you will be surprised at just how much there is to find. There are approximately 24 species of snake in and around Grahamstown, but don’t worry, if you are not looking for them, they’re are only a handful that you really have to watch out for…. Read More
Chad Keates 