Chad Keates Archives
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
On Thursday the 1st of March I presented my masters research to the department in the form of a spoken presentation in the Zoology Department tea room. Although I still have a fare way to go before I complete my thesis, the talk was an awesome opportunity for me to show-off what I have done thus far. The abstract for the talk is printed below. Why ‘splitters’ are winners: a snakes tale… Read More
On Sunday the 25th of February I was a guest on the radio show ‘The Book and the Brain’ on RMR 89.7FM. The show which ran for just over 20 minutes discussed snakes and my research within the field of herpetology. The show focussed particularly on species’ of snakes found within Grahamstown, and the controversy that surrounds them. The show, which I was thrilled to be a part of, was great fun… Read More
Late last year I was contacted by a journalist from the Daily Dispatch Newspaper in Port Elizabeth, seeking information on snakes. To make a long story short, I made it into the newspaper…again, and I couldn’t be more stoked. It is crazy to think how far I have come since when I started. The fact that people view me as a reputable source of information is a great honour and I feel… 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 