Lycodonomorphus rufulus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The common brown water snake (Lycodonomorphus rufulus) is a species of nonvenomous South African snake. This gentle, harmless snake is by far the most common water snake in southern Africa. It can be found from Cape Town in the south, along the wet east coast of South Africa and inland as far as Gauteng, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Throughout its range, its natural habitat is water margins, where it shelters under leaves and logs. It emerges at night to hunt frogs and sometimes rodents. It lays up to 10 eggs at the end of summer.
Scale count of Lycodonomorphus members [1] Broadley, D.G. (1967). A review of the genus Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in southeastern Africa, with a key to the genus. Arnoldia 3 (16): 1–9 Haagner, G.V. 1992. Life History Notes - Lycodonomorphus rufulus Jour. Herp. Ass. Afr. (41): 42–42
Lichtenstein, M. HINRICH C. 1823. Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der Königl. Universität zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und Fischen. Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss./ T. Trautwein, Berlin. x, 118 pages
Marais, J. 2004. A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Brown Water Snake sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 13th most-seen of the 27 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Brown Water Snake in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in February, May–June and August, the lowest months. That is one of Durban's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 25 mm in June.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Brown Water Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Common Brown Water Snake sightings, Durban ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Cape Town (South Africa, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Brown Water Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Durban (22 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
