Boaedon capensis
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Boaedon capensis, the Cape house snake, also known as the brown house snake, is a species of lamprophiid from Botswana, South Africa (from KwaZulu-Natal all the way through to the Western Cape), Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are a non-venomous lamprophiid. This species was previously grouped in the genus Lamprophis but is regrouped with the genus Boaedon.
Cape house snakes are usually dark brown on top, but the colour varies greatly from almost black through brown to olive green. The stripes that stretch from the rostral scale through the eye to the back of the head are very strong, thick, and bold. This species may have a lateral stripe running down the flanks, often resembling the links of a chain. They also sometimes have lateral stripes running along either side of the spine. Linking lines between the lateral striping is not uncommon. These body markings tend to be a paler brown/cream in colour on top of the often dark, chocolate-brown base tones. These markings normally fade two-thirds of the way down the body until only the base colour remains, but there are exceptions to the rule. Individuals without pattern are often found in the wild. These individuals... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Garden of South Africa | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Little Rock Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Tierpark Gettorf | 🇩🇪 Germany |
No species of the same family or order lives in Pretoria, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brown House Snake sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 6th most-seen of the 20 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brown House Snake in Pretoria on a given day, against about 10% in April, June, August and December, the lowest months. That is one of Pretoria's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 130 mm in December.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown House Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Brown House Snake sightings, Pretoria ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Lusaka (Zambia, about 30%) and Harare (Zimbabwe, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown House Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Pretoria (41 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.
