Pseudaspis cana
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The mole snake (Pseudaspis cana) is a species of snake. It has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae, and more recently in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genus Pythonodipsas. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is the only member of the genus Pseudaspis. A study showed that P. cana is caught and consumed by the honey badger, among other species. Remains of the mole snake were found in the faeces, and suggest the consumed individuals were larger specimens.
P. cana was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its original binomial name was Coluber cana. Since then, it has also been called Coronella cana by André Marie Constant Duméril, Gabriel Bibron and Auguste Duméril in 1854, before being reclassified as Pseudaspis cana by Edward Drinker Cope in 1864. P. cana is the only species in genus Pseudaspis. The genus has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae. More recently it has been placed in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genera Buhoma and Pythonodipsas, although a 2019 study concluded that the status of Pseudaspididae "deserves to be viewed with caution", and Buhoma may not belong in the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giraffe House | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Two Oceans Aquarium | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
No species of the same family or order lives in Table Mountain National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mole Snake sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 283 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 41 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mole Snake in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June to August, the lowest months. That is one of Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 110 mm in June.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mole Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Mole Snake sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 50%) and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mole Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Table Mountain National Park (283 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
