In the Western Cape, encountering a snake is by no means unheard of. And, you don’t necessarily have to be out in the sticks to witness a snake in your midst.
Snakebite season usually happens in the Western Cape from October, however, most snakes in our province are harmless, as the Western Cape Health Department notes.
Nonetheless, snakes can certainly be less-than-harmless to each other, especially in a recent case of two Male Mole snakes going at each other almost majestically.
Stacie-Lee Bekker shared the incredible footage of the fight with Cape {town} Etc and explained that she saw the snake fight happening right outside her window in her Noordhoek home.
VIDEO: Battle of the snakes in Noordhoek
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— ContentEtc (@EtcContent) May 5, 2022
From a snake amateur’s glance, I wasn’t sure if the snakes were actually fighting each other or enjoying some sexual healing, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt. That’s where the help of Tim Vorster from Cape Town’s Snake Park in Tokai came in handy.
Tim explains that it definitely appears to be a fight, and potentially one over a female. He adds that because the tail section is higher up on the other snake’s body, it indicates a fight.
Tim also notes that while the fight footage is docile, many Mole snakes actually end up biting each other on their tails (where their reproductive organs are).
Why would they bite each other’s reproductive parts? Well, that’s because it’s a sure way to knock out the competition when pining over a female.
In order to win the fight, the snake will pin its opponent’s head down, and whoever does this first is victorious, explain both Stacie-Lee and Tim.
The more you know right?
If you’re interested to learn more about snakes, identifications and sightings, the African Snake Institute has an incredible app that you can download, which offers a wealth of knowledge and guidance from experts on the app.
Additionally, the Cape Town Snake Park offers educational travelling shows and events, where you can truly slither into the world of snakes. The staff are conservationists and offer fantastic knowledge on our limbless friends.
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Picture: Screenshot from video by Stacie-Lee Bekker
