Chad Keates Archives
Recently I visited Durban, and more specifically Westville to see my cousins after a long year of work. While I was excited to see my cousins, and catch up, I was also excited to see some new ‘herps’ in Kwazulu Natal, one of the provinces with the highest diversity of reptiles and amphibians in South Africa. What I didn’t expect was just how much I would see. Westville Whilst there I spent… Read More
Once again I found myself in Hogsback, and this time I was determined to catch and photograph (properly) the Amatola Flat Gecko (Afroedura amatolica). This trip to Hogsback was however not intended for herping or adventure but rather as a farewell for the Rhodes Zoology Honours class of 2016 who were staying on a nearby Hogsback farm for the weekend. Unlike my classmates who sought to study in the spare time between… Read More
The text in this submission was adapted from my project manuscript which was submitted as part of my Zoology Honours course. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) (Mart.) Solms-Laub, is an invasive South American water weed that was originally imported into South Africa more than 100 years ago because of its beauty as an ornamental plant in ponds and aquariums (Guillarmod 1979). Much like the other major invasive water weeds in South Africa, water… Read More
So now that winter is coming to an end, snakes and other reptiles are starting to become far more abundant. One species that has become particularly abundant in the last few weeks, is the puff adder (Bitis arietans). To give context, in the last week, I have come across three puff adders. Two of them were average-sized adult males and the the third was a very large, very pregnant, female puff adder, which… Read More
Today I accompanied Gareth to Kwandwe Private Game Reserve. He was looking for friends, because as I am sure you know, zoologists have few in the way of friends. Zoologists tend to keep to themselves, and when they do interact, they end up talking incoherently about the misconceptions of elephant-ecosystem interactions. Gareth is a prime example. But enough about that! Let’s rather talk about his project. Today he was setting up camera traps at Kwandwe Private Game… Read More
Chad Keates 