Releasing of a baby puff-adder

[Curious]

Hello,
A friend of mine has caught a small ( +/- 20 cm ) puff-adder in his garden .
He stays in the Waterfall area. He wants to release it back into the wild, however is concerned as to what is the best location etc.
Need to keep it away from nasty humans who may harm it. Would a nature reserve suffice, but then if you inform them what will they do ? will they allow it ?
or should he just find a remote spot somewhere ?
Please advise
Thank you
PS had now our fifth Cape Centipede eater in our workshop - they must love the area.

[Herald_23]

Preferably within 1km of where it was found

[Creepy Critters]

By law you are supposed to release a snake within a 20km radius of where it is originally found, but I am sure that if you really intend to go to a reserve close by and speak to the right people it should not be to much of a hassle , as long as it is in a 20 km radius otherwise you will stand risking the chance of spreading diseases that were once only confined to a small population. Best of luck!

Regards
Kyle

[Herald_23]

20km sounds a bit out of range of its habitat
This snake has memory of all of its warm spots, water supplies, places to find food. You may as well cut off its head and wear it as a pendant if you take it 20km and drop it in the middle of nowhere during winter.

[bitis s2]

Agreed, 20km is WAY too far. Within 1km is good, and try to release it in an area with plenty bush cover, not open veldt where it can be easily trampled while it tries to reorientate itself.

[Mitton]

20km radius is perfectly fine.

[Jamster]

I don't understand why people assume that snakes will suddenly "forget" how survive if displaced? Very few houses, especially in built up areas, have suitable habitat that is well away from people within 1km of the snakes discovered location.

[michael]

What was finally decided in the Eastern Cape under the new reptile policy was that translocation of indigenous problem reptiles should be within a 3km radius. There were a few reasons for this. A few studies have been done and reptiles that have shown that most species have relatively small home ranges, and that if moved they often try to return to their area of origin. A study that was done on tiger snakes in Australia recorded this. There are also other concerns for example the potential of spreading diseases, low success rates of translocations or displacing local populations.
This is not an exact science very little published research exists as to what a suitable relocation distance is. What is suggested is currently thought to be the best for the reptiles concerned, as more research is done this could very well change.
This is what the Eastern Cape has proposed and other Provinces have different requirements based on their own policy guidelines. So basically I would suggest releasing it as close to where it was caught, it has survived pretty well there up until now.

[Jamster]

I also think that the species being relocated is important. For example, puff adders are usually able to cope with a variety of conditions and are spread throughout many different biomes. With specialised feeders such as egg eaters and heralds I would think their relocation would need to be more selective. Also snakes with specific habitat requirements such as water snakes should be relocated to areas with at least a temporary body of water to meet both the snakes habit requirements and prey needs.

I also think that rotating your relocation sites is very important! Using the same relocation site can be detrimental to the populations of prey items in that area. During some weeks in summer myself and a friend of mine collectively catch between 8 and 15 puffies in peoples homes and gardens. We simply cannot release all of these in the same location every time.

[Tails'nScales]

Take Pictures or it didn't happen....

[Jamster]

Hahaha, T n S I could post a whole collage of puffies and it still wouldnt prove anything as their are no dates. Maybe I should buy a Herald newspaper every time I go on a callout and take a picture of the puffy next to the date he he

I must say though, this season has been pretty quiet.