On the 24th of January, the Garden Route Botanical Garden hosted another successful Night in the Garden. The aim of this event is to introduce participants to the intriguing insects, amphibians and reptiles of the Garden Route.
The evening started with an enthralling, informative presentation by Garden Route Snake Rescue. The images below depict some of the highlights of their workshop
The crowd was first introduced to the non venomous Olive House Snake (imaged on the right) and the mildly venomous Red-Lipped Herald (imaged on the left)
We then explored the subtle difference between the rhombic egg eater (imaged first) and the rhombic night adder (imaged second). The rhombic egg eater is a non-venomous, toothless snake that feeds off eggs, but can easily be confused with the venemous rhombic night adder. The experts told us the difference lies in the shape of the snake’s heads (the egg eater having a wider more triangular shaped head).
After learning about the egg eater, the crowd was taught an interesting lesson – a boomslang is never a completely green snake. The boomslang (imaged first), is often confused with the Natal Green (on second).
The participants were then introduced to the truly venomous snakes of our region – from top to botton, the Rinkals, Cape Cobra and the Puff Adder.
Following Garden Route Snake’s wonderfully educational display, was an interesting and entertaining talk on the frogs of the Garden Route by amphibian expert, Ferdie de Lange. The Raucous toad (imaged above) was shown as one of the common frogs found in our homes, with a most unusual call.
Owing to the good rain previous to the event, the garden was teaming with life. Participants were treated to a cacophony of painted reed frogs and an excitingly large population of Knysna Dwarf Chameleons.
