How to Identify Snakes in South Africa

There are over 2,500 snake species in the world, with over 120 of them from South Africa. It is important to be able to identify a snake in order to know if it is venomous or will even attempt to attack you. Understanding this could be the difference between life or death. The common varietals of snakes in South Africa include the Puff Adder, the Horned and Many-Horned Adder, Black Mamba, Green Mamba, Eastern Tiger snake, Cobra, African Rock snake, Vine snake and the Rinkhal.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 
   Difference between toxic and non-toxic snake head shape

   Examine the shape of the South African snake's head. Look for horn-like scales above the eyes, triangular heads, very strong jaws that jut out, or a rattle--the snake is very dangerous and should be avoided immediately. These snakes include Mambas, Adders, Rinkhals, Cobras and a handful of others. Snakes with more rounded heads are usually harmless.

2. 
   Puff Adder

   Take note of the snake's posture and body language. Snakes that have short blunt tails are usually poisonous. If the South African snake coils up towards you and lifts the neck, flattens the head or raises a hood, the snake is very dangerous and should be avoided. It could be a venomous snake. Even if it isn't, it may cause damage if it strikes your skin. Usually, more harmful and poisonous South African snakes are the ones to react abruptly and irritated when stumbled upon or interrupted, since they are all over in the wild and tall grasses of the South African terrain.

3. See how the snake moves. In South Africa, this varies because of the different types of terrain a snake might live in, such as water, grasses or rocks. Some slither side to side in a curvy wave, while others move directly in a straight line. Adders and pythons move in straight lines, while most other snakes move in wave-like progression, including all non-venomous snakes in South Africa.

4. 

   Try to see the teeth of the snake, if possibly. Snakes that can be considered harmless in South Africa have a solid row of teeth and sometimes there is no bottom row of teeth at all. Snakes that can be considered harmful and poisonous to humans are snakes that have solid rows of teeth, as well as a set of fangs towards the back of their upper teeth. Snakes that are extremely harmful to humans are the ones that have very long, sharp fangs in the front and no rows of teeth in their mouth. These types of teeth provide the maximum effect of damage.

5. Don't rely on color or markings to positively identify South African snakes. The common varietals of snakes in South Africa include the Puff Adder, the Horned and Many-Horned Adder (all of which have brown, black and tan spots), Black Mamba (gun metal gray with a white underbelly), Green Mamba (green body with white underbelly), Eastern Tiger snake (black and orange markings), Cobra (ranges in colors but usually a dark body with lighter colored underbelly), African Rock snake (dark brown body with lighter spot markings), Vine snake (ranges from brown to green shades) and the Rinkhal (scaly dark brown to black color). It is near impossible to identify a snake's region by its color, so alternative methods such as the size of their head and scale appearance are needed to identify them as South African. In Africa, the only rule about a snake's coloring to remember is that if the snake is any shade of brown, then it is dangerous and you should stay away.

Tips & Warnings

• All snakes must be treated with caution. The large majority of snake bites in South Africa result from humans trying to catch them or come close to them, so do your best to stay away.

Resources

• Identification of different South African snakes