Lawnwood Snake Sanctuary

Just before Plett, by the crags, a few meters after the turn off to Monkey Land, is an absolute must. I suppose you can guess what its called by the title of the post, but what the hell; it's Lawnwood Snake Sanctuary. It offers hourly guided tours showcasing over 100 snakes. They are open daily from 9am to 5pm.

Tel: 044 534 8056
Cell: 082 667 6588
Email: lawnwood@polka.co.za

Now let the record show that I am not partial to snakes, and growing up in a Puff Adder infested area did little to quash my fears of the creatures. I was the first to recoil at the notion of "petting" any snake that would be on display, let alone hold one. Despite this, at the end of the tour (led by a funny and informed guide called Michael) I was hop-nobbing with seducers of Eve. The amount of interesting information resulted in me taking furious notes. Luckily the information was not presented in a dry manner.
 
I don't know about you guys but what I learned during the tour I found very exciting, so I thought I would share it with you.

Firstly, there are Three Kinds of Snakes
1) Constrictors - Those that cuddle the prey to death
2) Semi-Venomous - scary if you're a rat but to us rather harmless
3) Venomous - The get-help-or-die kind.

Venomous Snakes have 3 types of venom
1) Cytotoxic - attacks the cells and causes painful swelling
2) Neurotoxic - attacks the nervous system causing paralysis or a coma
3) Haemotoxic - attacks the blood, slowly turning it to water, kinda, till you bleed out.

There are no Green Mambas in the Garden Route.
Snakes down here don't feed during the winter because they do not digest during that time. Hence the food would just sit in their bellies and rot, poisoning them.
A snakes heart is approximately 1/3 of the way down its body.
Snakes that live near you get to know your routine and plan theirs around you, as to avoid bumping into you.
A Cobra (neurotoxic) spreads its hood by flattening its ribs; they also eat other snakes and are immune to their venom. In fact they are immune to each other's venom as well. So when they fight, the first one to put its opponents head in its mouth and start eating it, wins. Ten bucks says that's going to be the new fighting sensation to hit middle America, "Last Meal Standing."
A snake's eyes turn blue just before they start to shed.
Long thin snakes hunt, and will actively avoid people.
Short fat snakes, like adders, sit and wait for their prey, so don't step on them or there is going to be trouble.
A Spectecled/Indian Cobra's technical name is "naja naja naja", which means "cobra cobra cobra". I am not kidding.
The Reticular Python is the largest snake in the world but the anaconda is the heaviest.
The Rock Python is the biggest in Africa.
Anacondas and Boa Constrictors give live birth.
A snake with the classic slit pupils are active at night, but if it has round pupils then it is active during the day.
From hatching, a young snake's venom is just as potent as the adult, so don't fondle unidentified baby snakes.

If I got anything wrong please do not hesitate to correct me, but I found all this stuff very interesting. What I shared with you is just a smidgen of what I learned during the tour. Plus, as the pictures show, you do get to have some one on one time with the snakes. Don't just drive past, stop by. You will not regret it. Plus you can buy shedded snakeskin that you can keep in the back of your car to ward off criminals.