Why are snakes important?

Why are snakes important in our environment?

Living in South Africa means that you are more than likely going to have snakes in and around your house and garden. We are lucky enough to have a high diversity of snake species, and we have some of the most beautiful snakes in the world!

As we all know, most people are scared of snakes, which means that the snakes get killed on a regular basis without any thought or consideration. We need this to stop! Snakes are highly misunderstood animals, which actually help us out in many ways.

Snakes are ecologically vital and play an important part in the food chain. Like all animals, snakes have an important role to play in the environment and exist for a good reason.

Snakes control the populations of many different animals. Without snakes controlling all these animal numbers, there would be an imbalance in nature and the food chain would collapse.

There are many frog-eating snake species around, especially in KZN, such as Heralds, Brown Water Snakes, Night Adders and Mozambique Spitting Cobras. So if you have a pond in your garden, or a river or wetland nearby, you have a good chance of encountering these snake species. Don't panic! It is important for frog numbers to be kept in check, as it helps keep the insect population balanced. A lot of animals and plants depend on insects. (Frog numbers do need to be kept in check, but not destroyed! Too few frogs would be a disaster!)

Snakes do a fantastic job at keeping rodent numbers down! No one wants rats around, as they can be quite destructive in the house. Brown House Snakes, Black Mambas, cobra species and more all do a great job at controlling rat populations. Some of these snakes can devour a whole nest of baby rats in one sitting! This is also why some of these snake species will be found in houses and roofs.

A lot of snakes eat geckos and lizards, such as the thin green snakes that are common in a lot of parts of the country, especially in KZN! These are the Spotted Bush Snakes and Natal Green Snakes. They actively hunt down geckos around our homes and gardens during the day. Geckos can make quite a mess with their droppings around the house. We also can't have too many around, as it would affect insect numbers. Tropical House Geckos aren't even indigenous to South Africa! So the green snakes, which people often kill because they think they are green mambas, are important and should not be killed.

There are many different snakes species that eat various animals. Pythons eat antelope, other small mammals and more. There are snakes that eat invertebrates and eggs too!

Snakes are also an important food source for many animals, such as birds, monitor lizards, mongoose, genets and more! So they're not just predators, they're prey too!

Now you can see why snakes are important in our environment. If you do happen to see one in your garden, simply leave it alone. It is more afraid of you than you are of it. It wants nothing to do with people. It just wants to find food and shelter (and a mate in breeding season!). Chances are, you won't even see it again.

If there's a snake in your house and you really don't want it outside, DO NOT KILL IT! Call someone who is able to remove it. If it's a small little snake, gently sweep it into the garden with a broom.

You do not need to fear snakes, even the venomous ones. They will only bite if they have to defend themselves and if there is no escape. Bites are rare, as snakes are very quick to make an escape.

Appreciate the role snakes are playing around your gardens and homes! They are remarkable animals! Count yourself lucky to see one!