05/10/2026
Well it finally happened... An incorrect identification of a snake on a public platform, might very well have ended some young man's life. Or if not (we don't know as yet), it very well could have.
A member of public in the Bluff area, took to Facebook to get a positive identification of a green snake that had bitten a young Indian man, who had come across the snake and killed it.
I haphazardly came across the post and saw immediately that the snake was a Green Mamba. I went to the comments section to make the positive identification and saw that several people had already opted, with their obviously poor knowledge of snakes, to incorrectly identify the snake as a harmless Spotted Bush Snake. A couple people had commented on it being harmless and the original poster had obviously taken their word as gospel. He thanked them on the thread and had obviously left Facebook, assured that the snake was harmless.
I immediately commented and informed the man that I am a snake expert and that the snake posted by him, is actually a highly venomous Green Mamba and that the bitten person has to get to hospital immediately !!
I got no response.
I immediately went to his profile on Facebook and messaged him directly on Facebook messenger. I also tried to see if I could find any contact number for him, with no luck.
I then asked on the comments thread of his post, if anybody on there knows him and perhaps has a number to contact him. By this stage, two ladies on the group comments thread had obviously seen my comments and realised the severity of the situation that was playing out. Them and I began consulting with one another directly and before long, they had found a contact number for the man that posted the snake ID request.
I got hold of him and he informed me that the man who had been bitten by the snake, was a local Indian vagrant who was often seen in the area. I told him that the snake for which he requested an identification for, was in fact a Green Mamba and the bitten man needed urgent hospitalisation. He informed me that upon his request being answered on Facebook, and the snake being identified by several people as being harmless, he had informed the young man that the snake was not dangerous and the young man had walked off with the assurance that he would be fine.
With the correct ID being given by me, the man got in his car and drove all around the Brighten Beach area, trying desperately to find the young man who had been bitten, with no luck.
So now we don't know where the bitten man is, and we don't know if his bite was a serious bite or a dry bite.
Please can everyone reading this do yourselves a favour and find a couple reputable (the word reputable can't be stressed enough!) snake handler within your area and keep their numbers safe and on hand.
You cannot ask for the identification of snakes on general neighbourhood watch groups, security groups or on Facebook, as the answers you get will almost always be from people who think they know, but they're actually just guessing.
Maybe become a member of a snake identification wattsap group or facebook group and ask for help there. But ONLY accept identifications that are made by the admins of such groups, as even on these groups we CONSTANTLY have to address and delete members that choose to suggest identifications of snakes which are most often totally incorrect. This can have dire consequences for people, domestic pets and/or the snake involved.
PLEASE DO NOT OFFER ADVICE OR IDENTIFICATIONS OF SNAKES UNLESS YOU ARE VASTLY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND 100% CERTAIN !!!
You're more than welcome to reach out to me on 0827456375 for any snake ID requests and the safe removals of snakes.
