I received a call at 21:30 last night about a snake in someone's house - as the lady in question walked out of her door she stepped over the snake, and had quite a fright when it moved!
Although capturing snakes in the dark can be tricky, luckily this one was easy to identify. Once I saw what it was I picked it up and showed it to the residents, then talked with them about snakes and snake safety in general.
When I went to release this one I noticed that it had a small puncture on its stomach, likely from a dog or cat that had gotten hold of it earlier in the evening. I cleaned and disinfected the wound and kept the snake overnight, and I will be releasing it later today if it looks like it's recovered.
The Brown House Snake is a common animal found throughout all of South Africa.
The white V-shaped markings that run from the tip of their snout through their eyes are very distinctive and make them easy to identify.
Mainly nocturnal (active at night), Brown House Snakes actively hunt for rodents - this snake has the ability to consume an entire rodent family in a single session. Occasionally they eat small bats, birds, lizards, and frogs too.
Oviparous, they lay 8-18 eggs in the summer with young measuring 19-26 cm.