Family Vacation to Western Cape

Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Viridovipera » Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:12 am

It's been a while since my last picture posting, but hey, it's been a while since I was back in Africa. In December my family and I flew out to Cape Town to go to a family friend's wedding. We made a 10 day vacation out of it and went around the Western Cape. Although it was far from a herping vacation, I still saw some cool stuff and figured I would share. Please let me know if I got any of the IDs wrong.

I'll keep it to herps since the rest of the stuff is probably pretty commonplace for you folks, but I've got some bird and mammal pictures as well if you're interested.

Let me start by saying, wow, the Cape is BEAUTIFUL. This was the view from the my hotel, right behind Table Mountain in Constantia Nek.
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Saw two of these guys crossing the road in Table Mountain NP. I figure the long road going towards to the Cape of Good Hope would be great for road cruising if it were open after dark.

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I was hesitant to call these Cordylus niger, but they fit the description. According to Branch's field guide they're rarely in groups, but almost all the ones that I saw in Table Mountain NP were in groups.

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Again.

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Found this guy climbing on a wall at my hotel in Cape Town. Any idea? It looks similar to the Hemidactylus turcicus that were released where I live in the USA.
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Here's the pads.

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The only puffie seen was this dead one on the road near Inverdoorn.

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Mountain fynbos near Monte Rochelle outside of Franschhoek.

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Pachydactylus sp. Any idea on the species? This was also found right outside of Franschhoek.

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Size comparison.

Finally, on the last night, I decided to go road cruising near Nature's Valley. Jeez do I wish I thought of that earlier. We found 9 snakes of four species that night.

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First Lamprophis inornatus.

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Another.

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Another larger and much angrier Lamprophis inornatus.

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So I think this is a rhombic night adder and not a skaapsteker, but I'm willing to hear arguments. If it is that would mean I've seen at least one member from 3 of the 4 sub-families of vipers. All I need is to see an Azeimops feae and I'll have seen them all :lol: I was very excited about this find.

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Full body shot.

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DOR red lipped herald

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Any idea on this guy? It was very small, less than 30cm and obviously DOR. Although it's very faint there was a small line of vertebral dots.
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Here's a ventral shot.

Saw some amphibians too...

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Bufo rangeri??
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Again?

And my proudest amphibian find (ever since I saw the little guy in the corner of this forum!):
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Hyperolius marmoratus. Such a cool tree frog! I would've loved to see some more variations!

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Again.

Well that short foray, mostly from Nature's Valley, is about it. South Africa is a wonderful country, but I only began to scratch the surface herp-wise. I'll definitely be back -- and next time it will be only to herp! Thanks again for help with the ID's that I got wrong. Keep on herpin!

-Alex
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby shadowfoot » Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:01 am

Those are some great finds. Well done!
I am a 100% sure that is a rhombic night adder. I frequently find them here in Wilderness.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby vuduman » Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:19 am

Great post and some nice finds.
The first two life snake pictures are Lycodonomorphus rufulus -Common Brown watersnakes.
And your second DOR is a Duberria lutrix - common slugeater and pretty mutch an adult at that size.
You are spot-on with the other one being a night adder and not a skaapsteker.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Viridovipera » Mon Jan 23, 2012 3:04 am

Thanks guys! Real quick, how can you tell Lycodonomorphus rufulus from Lamprophis inornatus? What gave them away?
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Westley Price » Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:59 am

Very cool finds!

The first gecko with the pads is probably Afrogecko porphyreus.

The second gecko is Pachydactylus geitje.

Regarding telling L. rufulus and L. inornatus apart; The belly coloration and general build of the snake helps a lot.

Just for your interest, L. inornatus is now also in the genus Lycodonomorphus after DNA studies. It is closer related to the Water snakes than the House snakes.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby jka » Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:12 am

You have some nice finds there, great series of shot.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby TH » Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:39 am

Some great finds there - I'm not going to add to any discussions on the ID's as I agree with all of those that have been put forward by people who are a lot more experienced than I am anyway...

Have you posted your bird and mammal photos anywhere else? Perhaps just include a link here... I, for one, would be interested in seeing those too... :D
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby nvlooi » Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:36 pm

Nice finds and great pics , I think the second pic could be a L. inornatus.


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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Durban Keeper » Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:47 pm

Great finds & 5 species of snake, not just 4 as initially thought. Love the night adder!
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby armata » Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:21 pm

I became excited about the night adder until you mentioned Natures Valley. The closest population to Cape Town that I know of is nr Swellendam plus a doubtful record from Caledon.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Scavenger » Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:34 pm

I agree with you nvlooi I reckon the 2nd pic is L. inornatus.
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby Viridovipera » Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:19 pm

You guys are great, thanks for the help with the IDs, especially you westley.

The first one definitely had the pink belly, but I didn't check the second.

Here's a nastier looking specimen found from that road too -- I think this one would be L. inornatus too
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I was trying to do some better herping around Table Mountain and other locales closer to Cape Town, but it didn't really pan out due to time and weather. Next time I will do a lot more road crusing. My three targets haven't changed though: more adders, at least one cobra and a chameleon :-D Next time I'll go to DeHoop to meet up with Tony Phelps as well.

The rest of the pictures are available here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 2eccdb0f24
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Re: Family Vacation to Western Cape

Postby nvlooi » Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:58 am

You are correct,that last pic would also be L. inornatus.


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