African Wildlife & Environment Issue 82

GOOD READS

been embossed so that you can actually feel the scales of the snake! So the first touch of this fine book gives an indication of the care that has gone into its compilation and production. First published in 1994, this third edition has been updated, revised and expanded. New information relating to behaviour, reproduction and snake venoms has been added to the species accounts. This detailed and comprehensive guide to the snakes of our region is a must-have for herpetologists, collectors, field guides, hikers, farmers and gardeners. The Foreword is provided by Professor David AWorrell, Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. He writes: “Marais’ outstanding species descriptions provide invaluable information about vernacular names, favoured habitats, habits, similar species, hints on identification, dangers to man, and so on. The text is enlightened by some excellent photographic images, line drawings of head scales, useful size comparisons, and rigorously-updated distribution maps derived from resources such as the nine-year ‘Reptile Atlas Project’ that was chaired by the author. “…Johan Marais’ book…seems likely to become a classic of South African herpetology, maintaining the glorious tradition established by Andrew Smith,Vivian Fitzsimons, Donald Broadley and Bill Branch over the last 170 years.” The introductory chapters inform the reader about many aspects and some myths about snakes. Several valuable pages are devoted to the art of photographing snakes. ‘How to use this book’ does precisely that; then follow 'Biology and Behaviour’, ‘Classification and Relationships’, ‘Snakebite’ and ‘Snakes in Captivity’. All this takes up the first 55 pages of the book, and then we get to the species descriptions, which are arranged into five groups:Adders or Vipers; Mambas Cobras and their Relatives; Back-fanged and Other Venomous Snakes; Fangless and Non-venomous Snakes and Blind and Thread Snakes. The species descriptions that follow are laid out in a systematic way, over two or three pages per species, and make it easy for the reader to get a lot of information about a particular snake. Let’s take the notorious Puff Adder, which was

“Avaricious collectors have also illegally devastated wild populations, increasingly so in our times…. Many of our amaryllids produce enormous bulbs that are surprisingly long-lived, notably the larger Brunsvigia species among others. These huge bulbs are venerable old-timers, often over a century old, a fact appreciated by very few. Removing them from their habitat to satisfy a collector’s urge is usually a death sentence, in the same league as slaughtering a rhino or an elephant”. In the chapter on conservation, many of the other threats to this group of plants are noted. Primary among these is the destruction of natural habitats, from agriculture, urban development, mining and quarrying, waste dumping, alien vegetation, overgrazing and soil erosion. Large scale collection of bulbs for the medicinal plant trade has had a devastating effect on certain members of the genera Clivia and Crinum . For some species their only refuge is on privately owned land, and encouraging landowners to create conservancies is an important step in ensuring that future generations can see wild examples of the truly wondrous plants that are so well described in this outstanding book.

All About our Snakes

Marais, Johan (2022). A Complete Guide to Snakes of Southern Africa (Third Edition). Struik

Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 17 x 24 cm, 360 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs, diagrams and maps. ISBN 978-1-77584 -747-2. RRP R450. Also available in Afrikaans. People who suffer from Ophidiophobia should not leave this book on a bedside table, because running one’s hand over the front cover in the dark will probably be life-threatening.The smirking Black Mamba looks bad enough, but the cover has

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