Revisiting the Ian Miller incident

I guess you nearly saw your 'backside'!!!

Lol! Could'nt help saying it. Seriously though, I guess you were pretty lucky

Ghaz I stepped over and then JUMPED over a small brown snake coming off Mike's Pass. It was laying in the middle of the road and also got a fright and took a strike. But moved away before I could have taken a pic. Not a berg adder or skaapsteker. This snake was blackish , dark brown and I am sure not poisonous.

I got chased by a rinkals coming off Amakehla Amabilli a couple years ago.

Brown water snake. Definitely what I saw.

@ Diverian, you family of the late Ian Miller? (As in topic heading)

pretty interesting that some feel they have encountered a cape cobra in the 'berg and that 7% feel a cape cobra is the snake to most be concerned about.

Below is the latest SACRA distribution map for Cape Cobra, the presence of a cape cobra in the 'berg would certainly be a very interesting record from a scientific point of view as its well out of know distribution range. I would encourage anyone who thinks they have seem one to submit the record to SACRA.

intrepid wrote: Results from the opinion poll "Which Berg snake troubles you most?":

Puff Adder - 32 (56.1%)
Berg Adder - 13 (22.8%)
Rinkhals - 8 (14%)
Cape Cobra - 4 (7%)

Number of Voters : 57
First Vote : Tuesday, 20 October 2009 05:35
Last Vote : Tuesday, 23 March 2010 19:54

If not a Cape cobra (Naja nivea), could also be a snouted (Egyptian) cobra (Naja annulifera) which range throughout Limpopo, Southern Moz, Northern KZN & Zululand, and they can look a very similar bronzy-yellow.

edit: from the same source as firephish above, a snouted cobra would also be a long way outside it's documented range:

A photo posted by Cape Snake Conservation on FB. Caption: And a nice big female (110cm, 1.9kg)


I think we can be happy that they don't get this big in the Berg! On the bright side, you'd see one this big long before you got anywhere near it.