Mar 03 2020
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The Shady one – Roman spider @ Sibaya -Sodwana Bay – South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions (order Scorpiones) nor true spiders (order Araneae). Much like a spider, the body of a solifugid has two tagmata: an opisthosoma (abdomen) behind the prosoma (that is, in effect, a combined head and thorax). At the front end, the prosoma bears two chelicerae that, in most species, are conspicuously large. The chelicerae serve as jaws and in many species also are used for stridulation. Unlike scorpions, solifugids do not have a third tagma that forms a “tail”. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae I think this is the hardest I have laughed and screamed in a really long time… Now living out in the bush and having a braai can sometimes be a tricky business. Tom has this super crazy phobia of this specific spider… The red Roman Spider or more commonly known globally as the Sun spider… Tom has a funny personality on his own already. He loves making jokes and and overall is mostly a funny guy outside of work. He can really be a class clown, when he’s in the right mood… I think I laugh the most when he is super scared of something, never ask him to be your knight in shining armor when it comes to freaky, ugly creepy crawlies like this one. Well at the time when we caught this monster of a creepy crawly, I wasn’t aware they are actually aggressive and can bite really sore. We were sitting outside having a great chat about our dreams and what we would love to do still within this year, when suddenly Tom felt a weird tickle on his foot. At first he didn’t take note of it and thought it might just be a piece of grass, but this grass started to move, right now I am so wishing I had the camera ready to video him… I think it was the fastest I have seen Tom jump on anything before and that’s saying a lot… since we use to work in construction. For some reason Roman Spiders/Sun Spiders seem to really be attracted to Tom’s Shadow. Besides that I have this really bad habit of putting my feet up on chairs and couches all the time. I can even walk past the stupid things and they will never chase my shadow, maybe they after Tom’s hairy legs or something (Read facts below)… I sound like a really bad fiance, but I love watching Tom run away from these freaky looking critters… HAHAHA! On this occasion I had to be the hero in his story, but he does save me more often then I save him, so I don’t mind saving him once in a while… when he has to save me almost everyday… Unfortunately we do not have our own photo of this freaky creature, he was way to fast tryna get away from the light and any footage we have is super blurry… A few facts about this scary Critter that roams our sandy planes: Despite their name they are not actually spiders, the only thing they have in common with a spider is their 8 legs! You know that feeling, when you think something is stalking or watching you out in the bush, maybe just check your shadow there really might be something following you in the dark of night or in the daytime… These creatures are supposedly daytime dwellers, running from shadow to shadow, but we have only encountered these shady creatures at night, much delight to our kitten and Puppy… No, they do not have 10 legs as popular belief might suggest, I guess it just makes them sound even more scarier and more alien like, but there front lobes are more like feelers than legs and are way to short to use as legs… Although it is not a spider it is still classified as a Arachnida. Ok, so here is some good and bad news all in one go – Roman/sun spiders are not poisonous, but tend to be quite agressive and can apparently bite really sore – I seriously hope never to be bitten by one these scary creatures… They tend to shave your hair for you while you sleep… Reports might suggest that these creepy crawlies will give you a really bad free beard trim and all they ask for in return is that you donate your hair to their nests. There has been cases where animals have been left with bald patches after an unexpected visit from mister Sun Spider. These things are super vicious – they eat – spiders, scorpions, even small reptiles, but you wanna know the worst part – they will even prey on each other and eat their prey alive, that’s just horrible. They have super strong pincers like a crab which helps them successfully catch and eat their prey… They can grow between 70 -160 mm. The bigger the scarier… I am a lover of almost any creature, but never been a huge fan of Spiders – Especially – Hairy, aggressive, huge and poisonous ones!!!! Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving you guys who are committed to us exclusive content and be able to further our channel and provide better content to our Patrons… To do this we need funds and all the support we can get… Also check out our YouTube Channel when you done reading this… Every view is one step closer to our goal, we need 4000 hours of our subscribers views and 1000 Subscribers to be able to start making money and better content for you guys, YouTube is free please watch all our videos till the end… and subscribe…

Feb 21 2020
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Star Light – Moon Bright @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Whoohoo a brand new video out exclusive to all our Sodwana Bay followers. Most of the time living here you fell like you living in a nature reserve, gorgeous starry nights you would never be able to see in the city, even the moon is brighter out here. Well it is to be expected with much less lights to pollute the gorgeous skies and take away their shine. Click down below to check out this cool new video of a cloudy night over Sibaya Lake with a great song to match…. Enjoy!!!! Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button Join Youtube?, also Like, comment and hit the bell icon to get notified for each new video. Join our Patreon Become a Patron? group to help support us to bring you even better content and to help us keep our dream alive!   info@sodwanabayinformation.co.zaThanks for all the support so far!

Feb 21 2020
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Stinging Sensation – Black Scorpion @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

When we first moved into our new home – in Sibaya/ Sodwana Bay, there were quite a few small black scorpions living in our house, most would hide under cupboards, the washing machine and anything that could provide shelter for them. This was quite a scary ordeal for us, as we had gotten a Jack Russel pup just a few weeks prior to moving and she loves playing with any foreign thing, her favorites are Shongololos and what we call puppy beetles (Fork-nosed Dung Beetle). But when we first came to Sodwana Bay even the scorpion was fair game. We felt like parents of a baby learning to explore and experimenting with everything. Every time she yelped or started barking at something we would jump up to try and save her, just in case it might be dangerous. There were definitely a few close calls, but none that actually prevailed. Luckily as a rule of thumb big pincers and thin tail, with small stinger usually means not poisonous. Some are described as less painful than a bee sting, and then fat tail with large stinger and thin/small pincers are highly venomous and need medical attention as soon as possible. We now and then find a straggler that wonders into our house and have had a few near stinging experiences, but these Scorpions seem to be just as cautious with their stinger as we are to stepping on them, they seem to rather warn you then just go on the attack… We have a special bottle already where we chuck all unfortunate creatures who stray into our home, we call it the “rescue” bottle, anything small enough which can fit in the bottle, we’ll try catch and release it in the furthest corner of our yard. So here’s the question: Which Scorpion is this? I have done some homework and tried to figure out which Scorpion it could be… I am no expert on Scorpions, so like most people I could confuse this Scorpion with any number of species. The 4 Species below are commonly found in our region – Sibaya/ Sodwana Bay, but honestly I can’t tell the difference, which one do you think it is? The tree creeper Drakensberg Creeper (My most likely candidate) Jones’s Creeper Southern Rock Scorpion (Least likely candidate) These are my suggestions but not exactly sure which one it is and unfortunately wiki was not very helpful in this topic… Here’s a link to to check out these Scorpions: africansnakebiteinstitute.com Leave a comment below to let me know what you think, if we can get an accurate answer I will right a follow up post describing this Scorpion and more info on its habitat… If you have any questions about Sodwana Bay or the odd creatures you have encountered please feel free to send us an email, with your question and maybe your story of the encounter and we will do our best to find the answer and share your story – Don’t forget to add a picture or video….   info@sodwanabayinformation.co.za

Feb 18 2020
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Shove It! – East African Shovel snout snake @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Full Name: East-Africa Shovel-snout (Prosymna stuhlmanni) Classification: HARMLESS A smallish snake averaging around 22 cm and inhabits lowland forest and moist savanna where it may be found under rocks or logs or in leaf litter. Whilst getting ready for bed, we found a little worm like creature slithering around in the corner by our bedroom door post. We have grown a custom to Shongololos (giant African millipede), our Jack Russel pup loves it when they crawl into a ball, she will always push them with her nose until they curl up and wait till they open up again and do it all over again, unless the next  bug comes a long, especially her puppy bugs (Fork-nosed Dung Beetle). Luckily she is already ready for bed when we start packing up to go to bed… Tom was busy taking things to the room when  he noticed our slithery friend tryna climb up the wall or just get into the crack of the wall to hide, since it is such a tiny snake. At first I thought it was a baby, but research suggests this is not such a baby, as they don’t grow very long. We have a WhatsApp group for family and friends, where we inform them of all the weird and wonderful things we encounter. I think we scared everybody half to death with this little guy, not because its a snake but because of what snake we thought it could: A stiletto snake (Dangerous). Luckily for us it was a sweet harmless East-African Shovel-snout. They are fairly small snakes and mostly eat reptile eggs. Well of course what it can fit in its mouth. The one we found seemed quite curious about us and would rather try get away than pretend its dangerous. We were able to go visit Sodwana Bays local snake guide and he informed us that there was no panic needed and that it was a harmless shovel snout. But it is still wise to be careful of any unknown  snake… Although this awesome wildness can get a little scary sometimes it is so cool that we can experience Africa for its true beauty and no more the fake big city life. A few nights later we found another little one on its way to our house. We not sure if its the same one, cause we took the first one quite far from the house. This one was super friendly, went straight into the container we used to take it away from the house and just kept on looking at us like it completely trusted us. We don’t necessarily  worry to much about harmless snakes near our house but the problem comes in the dogs don’t like anything foreign near us, so for the snakes safety we move them where the dogs can’t get to them? More about this cutie pie – Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake: Most Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake only grow up to 22 cm. Their main habitats are moist Savannah and lowland forests. Makes sense there is water atleast on 2 sides of us less than 5 km away. The Eastern-African Shovel-Snout Snake does not coil up like their cousins when threatened. Easiest way to identify this specific species of Shovel Snout is their cute yellow snout. Right on the tip their snout they have a yellow spot, some of them also have white spots on their backs. They feed on small reptile eggs, of course any egg that can fit in their mouth they will consume, oddly enough they love hard shelled gecko eggs. Its kinda strange to me since the are so tiny! Theses snakes are also super shy and really don’t like being center of attention…Sounds like me!!! Source of all factual info: africansnakebiteinstitute.com  

Feb 18 2020
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Mr Frog, what on earth are you thinking – The African common toad or guttural toad @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

The African common toad or guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae.[2] It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, and canals and ditches. Of course since coming here, I have this weird fascination of toads and frogs. I guess I get that from my mom, she use to love frogs and always tried to protect them. But my fascination is not that they cute or kinda almost alien looking but why do they always smile, I know our grey foam-nest froggie hates it when its overcast. He always has a sad face when it rains or the sun doesn’t shine, but this frog constantly smiles and he is only active at night, maybe he’s feels like the luckiest frog alive, his species is thriving, I guess there must be a lot of bugs around, but I wonder if he has ever considered the snakes that might be lurking around looking for such a yummy meal like him? I guess we will never know… This big guy we often see when we take the dogs for their last walk before we go to bed, its kind of a nightly ritual for us. Sometimes the dogs will even come remind us to take them for their walk around the garden. Lately every night while on our walk Mr frog is seemingly sitting and waiting for us to pass by, all the dogs and even the cat greet him on the walk and when we come back say goodnight. We love all our Sibaya creatures, it reminds you of how wild South Africa truly still is… A few fun facts about this amphibian: They are a large specie of frog, males can grow up to 90 mm and females up to 120 mm. Like most frog species the female is larger than the male They are super adaptable to change in their environment, so habitat is never an issue for them, although they do prefer savanna and moist areas. The upper surface is buffish brown with variable irregular dark brown markings. There are two pairs of brown spots between the eyes making a cross-like mark, and there is often a pale stripe down the spine. The arms are edged by distinctive white tubercles and there is a red patch on the back of the thighs. The underparts are pale and granular and the male has a dark throat. The parotid glands are prominent and the toes are only slightly webbed. The guttural toad is very common. It is spreading through southern Africa as its population increases. It can live in a variety of environments, and is very adaptable. It has no major predators and does not suffer much from habitat loss. Source of all factual info: Guttural toad

Feb 17 2020
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The Teenage monster attack! -Rock Monitor Lizard @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Rock Monitor Lizard The rock monitor (Varanus albigularis), also called commonly the white-throated monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Central, East, and southern Africa. It is the second-longest lizard found on the continent, and the heaviest-bodied; locally, it is called leguaan or likkewaan. Wiki >Source Check out this gorgeous creatures video above and how it was able to escape a pack unscathed: If you liked this video, please don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, hit the bell icon and share this video with as many people as you have in your contact list everywhere…. While we were having a great lazy Saturday afternoon – watching tv, the dogs as usual started barking. We assumed that they were either barking at people walking past or just randomly barking for no reason what so ever. Now anybody who has a dog (especially a yappy one such as a yorkie or jack russel) will know that dogs sometimes will even bark at the wind if they are bored and not much excitement happens around them… I  tried to make them keep quiet but this time they just wouldn’t listen, our jack russel pup looked quite scared when she ran to me while the other dogs were still around the corner. I was not expecting this much excitement at the end of the day! Our male big dog had a teenage monitor lizard in his mouth. That thing was huge, but I know it was a teenager and not adult cause our mamma Monitor was even bigger than this one. When I saw it in our dogs mouth I at first thought it was our kitten cause she has similar markings as the monitor lizard, I screamed at him, I think he got such a fright and dropped the poor thing, when it ran away I was kinda relieved that it was a monitor Lizard and not the cat, surprisingly enough in the whole 4 dog pack attacking the poor thing it never got hurt, maybe it’s ego was a bit bruised but that’s it. When we got to film it, it stood high and proud and wasn’t scared to “strut it’s stuff”. It would whip it’s tale and hiss voraciously at us. It was quite scary. You could feel the pure force of its tale even while you were out of reach. We left it alone for a while but they went to find the poor creature again and the whole ordeal started all over again… Eventually the poor thing found a safe haven underneath an old rusted drum in the back of our property. Ladies and gentlemen… I present to you our Rock Monitor Lizard… We estimate him to be around a 1 m long, so he is about half the size of what he will be when he grows up…. Here are a few fun facts about these beautiful creatures… They have blue tongues, this is not from research, this fact I discovered on my own when we were so close to it. I just found out what kind of Monitor lizard we have around here: It is the rock Monitor lizard… The Rock monitor lizard is the second largest Lizard in Africa. it can grow up to – 2 m in length including its tail. It comes short to the Nile Monitor Lizard being the longest lizard in Africa. Some people actually keep these giants as exotic pets, although it’s not recommended to try keep a monitor lizard and have dogs and cats, especially if the dog or cat is smaller than the lizard… The Lizard might mistaken the cat/dog for prey! It is the heaviest bodied lizard on the continent… With adult males can weighing up to – 5 -8 kg (more mature males can reach a whopping – 15 -18 kg) and females weighing 3.3kg – 5 kg. They are mostly carnivorous eating – Centipedes, eggs, small birds, small reptiles and small mammals, so keep watch over all your furry friends when one of these are around…