April 10, 2008
By Peter Sullivan
Struik, R220
This splendidly illustrated book is about the 151 snakes, 338 lizards, 27 tortoises and one crocodile of our subregion. It is easy to use to identify a snake or lizard, yet detailed enough to tell you a bit about the creature … like which antidote won't work.
It contains creatures I'd certainly never heard of: the very first item was a Beaked Blind Snake followed by Flowerpot Snake, Stiletto Snake and then two quaintly labelled Jan's Shovel-snout and Visser's Shovel-snout.
Not to mention the weird lizards.
It's loaded with information (To do and Not to Do when bitten) and education (only 16 of our snake species have a lethal bite, only 1% of people bitten by them actually die).
If anybody in your family has an interest in herpetology, slither this on to your bookshelf.
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