Snake catcher reports dramatic decrease in summer call-outs

SNAKE call-outs in the Port Elizabeth area between December last year and now have decreased dramatically, says a Port Elizabeth snake expert.

Snake catcher and Sandula Conservation owner Mark Marshall, 34, said by this time last year he had been swamped with calls about snakes in peoples‘ houses, but this year there had been a remarkable decrease.

“Last year this time I had already had about 50 calls, whereas this year I would say I have had fewer than 40.”

“During the peak of summer I would normally be getting an average of three calls a day for snakes on people‘s properties, but this summer I received a maximum of two a day.”

Marshall, who is on the police and hospital call-out list for snake-related incidents, attributed the decrease of snakes in the urban Port Elizabeth area to factors such as the lack of rain and residents killing them.

“I am normally inundated with calls about puff adders, but this season I have not caught even one puff adder,” he said. “Another strange phenomenon is that I have caught various night adders in the Theescombe area, which is unusual as they are not common in the suburbs at all.”

However, despite the sudden drop in snake call-outs, Marshall has managed to catch an array of venomous snakes on residential properties this summer.

“They included a few spitting rinkhals, Cape cobras and boomslangs as well as non-venomous ones like Natal green and brown house snakes.”

These were caught in suburbs such as Greenbushes, Lorraine, Walmer and Malabar.

Despite the reduction in snakes in the urban Port Elizabeth area, there were still plenty on the outskirts of the city.

He said most of the rinkhals, part of the cobra family, had been found in the Greenbushes area. “One was even in a dog kennel drinking water from the bowl,” Marshall said. “The other was in someone‘s swimming pool.”

Only two snake bites had been reported to him during the summer season, and one was from a non-venomous snake.

“A man in the Baavianskloof area was bitten by a puff adder and rushed to hospital,” he said. “He received treatment and was discharged.” The other person was bitten by a harmless brown house snake, killed for the sake of identification.

Marshall said the decrease could also possibly be attributed to a decline in construction and development in the city.

“I normally get contracted by building companies to scout the area before development, and find any type of animal and relocate them,” he said.

“One builder dug up about 85 snake eggs. I took the eggs and incubated them. Most of them hatched in February.”

He said all of those 85 snakes had already been released into the wild. “People must realise snakes are part of the ecosystem and are needed to keep a balance in the environment.”



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