Tag Archive for snake relocation

Picture: Vader the forest cobra

Lacey / March 26, 2012 / 2 comments

After a week of seeing Vader but being unable to capture him on photo we were successful yesterday! He looks in good condition and judging by the speed he shot off at, he is as happy as Larry with his new home.

All in all a good day, we located Lucas the little Black Mamba and even Chelsea the big Black Mamba had decided to disengage herself from her nice warm bed and venture outside for a spot of sunbathing.

After a week of eluding us she was so keen to show us she was still alive that we almost stepped on her! Only when we’d seen her did she decide that that was enough and she shot off into the bush again. Presumably tag-teaming with Lucas to keep us on our toes and searching further and further into the bush for the both of them.

 

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Goodbye and good luck Gizmo!!

Lacey / September 1, 2011 / No comments
Gizmo's new home

Great view over the water for Gizmo

 

Well, the day has finally come where we say goodbye to Gizmo.

 

Gizmo hides in the grass

Home Sweet Home

 

In case you missed it, Gizmo was one of the original snakes in our telemetry research project. Unfortunately Gizmo was just a little too small and did not react well to the telemetry unit after the Surgery. There was only one thing to do, let Gizmo go without the transmitter. So back into surgery a few days later, the transmitter was removed and Gizmo returned with us to convalesce.

Gizmo has been getting stronger by the day and has even managed to put on enough weight to shed! So we thought it high time we let him go once more in the bush.

 

Forest Cobra unsure of release

Gizmo tentatively looks round

 

At first he seemed reluctant to leave his Hluhluwe hotel (namely the garage atUmkhumbi Lodge but then instinct got the better of him and he was off.

After a brief stop in the water – which judging by the speed he left it was cold!! – he ducked into the long grasses to hide from the sun.

 

Gizmo the forest Cobra gives us one last smile before slithering away

Be careful Gizmo!

Bye bye

Category: Bushwire, Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chelsea the Black Mamba Joins the Property Ladder

Lacey / July 11, 2011 / No comments

It would appear that Chelsea has indeed found herself a little underground home.

Two days in a row now we have spotted her sunbathing and then – when she realises we want a photograph – gets camera shy and hightails it into a nearby termite mound.

Now, I realise the pictures aren’t very good, but she is much quicker than my lens (or me!). She is disappearing into a termite mound behind the branches dead centre of the shots. Practice makes perfect, so better shots coming soon.

Yesterdays sighting revealed a nice bump which was not there today, we can therefore safely assume that she is settling in well and making herself right at home by decimating the mouse population. Which I am sure the nearby Pineapple farmers will be most appreciative of!

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Gizmo returns – for a little while

Lacey / July 10, 2011 / One comment

It has been decided among the crew that Gizmo should be rereleased. However we have decided this time to release him without the transmitter. He is just a little too small and whilst he is doing fine in captivity with the transmitter in place we have our doubts about how well he will be able to cope after release. So, we have made the decision to pop him once more into the care of Susanne (our project veterinarian) and then monitor his convalescence before releasing him once more into the wild. Free to remain unbothered by humans pestering him when he is soaking up the midday sun.

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Welcome back Lucas the Black Mamba!

Lacey / July 5, 2011 / One comment

Well folks, it’s been a few days since we gave Lucas some breathing space to settle into his surroundings – and we’re pleased to say that he is still in the area. He is the one snake that we thought might move out of the area but there he was sunning himself, presumably happy for a small break in the cold weather that we have been having here in Hluhluwe.

 

Chelsea the Black Mamba is in her winter home (meaning that she is currently underground somewhere sheltering from the chill – presumably dressed in pyjamas and drinking hot chocolate with movies).

 

Vader the Forest Cobra has decided to explore beyond his termite mound, but is still staying in the vicinity – I can’t blame him from returning to the same spot, the sunset from his spot is beautiful!

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , ,

Day 2: Quick Catch Up

Lacey / June 30, 2011 / No comments

Hey everyone,

Well some good news and some bad news.

We have confirmed visual sightings of all four snakes! The transmitters are all working well (thank you Victor Hugo – they are awesome), and most of the snakes tried to avoid us – always a good sign!

Chelsea is still being a lady of leisure – except now she is approximately 7 metres up a tree.

"Try and catch me up here :p"

Chelsea luxuriates in her penthouse apartment


The bad news is that Gizmo being the smallest needs a little more convalescing time and is now sitting in the garage in the warm – we will keep you all posted on a re-release date.

As for the other two:

Vader is evading us by hiding in a termite mound. Infact all we saw of him was his tail as we rounded the corner and he shot down a hole, obviously we need to be a lot quicker.

Lucas is surprisingly fast at escaping, just as we find him he loops around a tree and heads in another direction – so we’re going to give him some space for a couple of days.

 

Lucas is in there, but there is no way through...

 

Big hello to Beccy and Lyndsay our two volunteers at the moment who are going to help us track the snakes. Despite being up for over 24 hours and barely getting off the plane they were traipsing through the undergrowth with us and experiencing their first taste of Sickle bushes.

 

The joy of bundu bashing

...time to make a way.. Ouch!

Sorry girls, but there are plenty more bushes to tromp through soon!

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , ,

Day 1: Snake release

Lacey / June 29, 2011 / No comments

Today is the day!

The sun is shining, the wind is still and our snakes have been charging themselves in the sunlight as though they had solar panels.

In addition to our release crew today we had three guests who wanted to come along and experience the buzz. That’s the joy about Umkhumbi Lodge, you never know quite what is going to happen and who you are going to meet!

 

 

As we very gingerly looked in the tubs in the morning we were delighted to discover all the snakes looking and acting like they should be. The Mambas acted like Mambas and the Forest Cobras acted like Forest Cobras.

 

Little but dangerous!

Running away

 

Fastest release goes to Lucas, who was out of the tub and into a tree in the blink of an eye. It was even quicker than me eating chocolate!

 

Skywalker

 

So quick in fact that we had to track him to make sure he didn’t sneak back up on us!

 

So he can't sneak up and bite us on the bum!

 

Chelsea our big girly, acted like a lady of leisure as she sunbathed, she was in no rush to go anywhere – probably because at her size she knew that we were far more intimidated by her than she was of us!

 

Soaking up the rays

 

Category: Donald Schultz, Forest Cobra Project / Tags: , , , , , ,

Snake call out – Baby Puff Adder

Lacey / June 27, 2011 / 3 comments

Here at Umkhumbi Lodge we often get calls from our neighbours to rescue them from snakes, sometimes they are highly venomous and other times are a simple case of mistaken identity.

 

 

In this particular instance our neighbour was right to call us as the little slitherer was a baby puff adder. Even when very young they are still highly venomous and feisty. Puff Adders are well known for using camouflage as defence. In order to remain undetected they do not try and run away like most snakes, they will lay quite still until trodden on – then they bite, hard!

 

 

It’s ok you might think – they have very obvious markings, you could spot them easily…

 

…check out the photo above. Can you spot the puff adder? The bush isn’t very thick, it should be easy, right?
Category: Bushwire, Snake Call out / Tags: , , , , , ,