Chad Keates Archives
On Saturday the 2nd of June I did a snake awareness talk for the Friends of Waters Meeting Nature Reserve at Ploughman Pub in Bathurst. The talk was well attended and furthermore, was exceptionally well received by the citizens of Bathurst. With an audience ranging in age from pre-schoolers to pensioners, it was challenging but incredibly enjoyable. I spoke about different scorpions, the snakes of Albany, snake myths and lastly, snakebite and… Read More
In March of this year, I played my final game of the season for Manley Flats Cricket Club. The teams consisted of a mix-match of both first team and second team players and was great fun for all involved. Although I spend much of my time buried in the world of herpetology, I do take breaks every now and then to do the other things that give me joy. One of those… Read More
In march of this year I was asked to do a snake demonstration for students of Graeme the demonstration took place in the hostel, after hours, and the audience consisted of both primary and high-school kids. While some of the guys had seen and handled snakes in the past, many had not, making it a very special occasion for some of the guys. All in all, it was great evening filled with… Read More
This list contains all the snakes that can be found in the Eastern Cape. Several species have not been added to the list as I do not have good photos of them at this time. Snakes such as the black mamba, green mamba and vine snake have not been added to this list as they are only present at the southern border between Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape, and thus have a… Read More
On Saturday the 5th of May I hosted the second critter walk. The event was well received, with quite a few people coming 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. We managed to find several interesting species of… Read More
On the 19th of April, I was the keynote speaker for the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) Grahamstown AGM, that took place in Eden Grove lecture theatre, at Rhodes University. In the first part of my talk, I discussed the reptiles that could be found in and around Grahamstown, and how to identify them. I also talked about snakebite treatment, snake myths, and what to do if you encounter… Read More
Death-shamming, death-feigning, playing dead, and thanatosis are all words that describe the process whereby animals pretend to be dead in the hope of being left alone by a perceived threat. When encountered, the Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemechatus) will often take every opportunity to escape. When cornered they will lift nearly half of their body off the ground and spread a large hood in an attempt to intimidate the perceived threat. Once hooded, the… Read More
On the 23rd of April, Dr Shelley Edwards and I delivered a snake talk for primary and high school learners of P.J. Olivier school in Grahamstown. The talk, which was delivered during their morning assembly, to a crowd of approximately 365 learners, was my biggest snake talk to date. the assembly was attended by students from grade 1 all the way to Grade 12 and was challenging and exhilarating at the same… Read More
On the 17th of April, I presented an afternoon snake talk for high school learners of Nombulelo Highschool, at their school, on the outskirts of Grahamstown. The talk, which comprised of both a PowerPoint presentation and a live snake demonstration, was a great opportunity to engage with the students about reptiles, and dispel some of the myths that surround snakes in the area. The PowerPoint presentation was challenging because of the language… Read More
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
Chad Keates 