BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020

WILDNEWS

SebastianHoefer

Whilesomepeople

mayndsnakesscary,

SebastianHoeferhas

beenattemptingto

assuagefearsaspartof

hisjobresearchingthese

reptiles in The Bahamas.

Research Assistant, Cape Eleuthera Institute, The Bahamas

MEET THE SCIENTIST

T

hefearofsnakesis

a commonphobia.

Unfortunately,this

fearhastranslated

intoa conservation

threattosnakeson

theislandsofTheBahamas.Locals

persecutethereptiles,butoneman

is tryingtosettherecordstraightby

educatingthepublic.Thatmanis

SebastianHoefer,a researchassistant

at theCapeEleutheraInstitute,based

inTheBahamas.

OriginallyfromGermany,Hoefer

spentmuchofhischildhoodinthe

greatoutdoors,givinghimample

opportunitytodiscover,andgrow

tolove,allsortsofscalycritters.

Aftercompletinghisstudiesin

biology,Hoeferwasoffereda job

attheCapeEleutheraInstitute– a

researchandeducationalfacilitythat

aimstoimproveourunderstanding

ofmarineecosystemsandsupporta

sustainablefutureforTheBahamas.

Hoeferhassetupa snakeresearch

programmetounderstandmore

aboutthesereptiles,soastoinform

conservationefforts.

Notwodaysarethesameforthe

researcher:“Thismakesmyjob

reallyfunandchallenging.Most

days start with a snake survey, where

returnedtowhereit wasfound,”

heexplains.

Hoeferandhisteamcapturedthe

first-everpublishedvideofootageof

thisbehaviourinanysnakespecies.

Reflectingonobservingthisrare

sight,hesays,“Autohaemorrhaging

tellsusthatthereis stillsomuchin

naturethatwedon’tknowabout.”

Hoeferis alsostudyingthe

frequencyofsnakeroadkillonthe

islands.Beingcold-blooded,snakes

lieontheblacktarmacroadsto

warmup,whichis wheretheycan

berunoverbytraffic.“Inthepast

sixmonthsofsurveyinga short

stretchofroadontheremoteisland

ofEleutherainTheBahamas,we’ve

collectedover 300 deadsnakesof

differentspeciesandlifestages.”

Thoughnoneofthesnakesfound

inTheBahamasarea dangerto

humans,fearandpersecutionstill

occur.“We’retryingtoreducesnake

persecutionbyengagingwithlocal

schools,toeducatetheyouthabout

snakesandhowimportantthey

are,”saysHoefer.“Itfeelsgreatto

beabletochangepeople’sminds

aboutsnakesandmakethemrealise

thattheseanimalsareimportant to

havearound.”NikiRust

We’reengagingwith

schools,toeducatethe

youthaboutsnakesand

how important they are.

S

T

I lookfordeadsnakesontheroad

onmywaytotheinstitute.”After

that,Hoefercouldbedoinganything

fromteachingstudentstodissecting

deadspecimens.“It’sa greatbalance

betweenfieldandlabwork,”hesays.

Hoeferhasrecentlyobservedan

unusualdefensivebehaviourin

a Bahamianpygmyboa.Known

as‘cephalicautohaemorrhaging’,

somesnakescanexudebloodfrom

theirorificestowardoffpredators.

“Afterfindingthesnake,wedecided

todocumentitsuniquedefensive

displayinthehopeoflearningmore

about it. [Then] the snake was safely

To p t o b o t t o m : A l l a n J o n e s ; Ty l e r U r q u h a r t ; S e b a s t i a n H o e f e r

Reducingchildren’s

fearofsnakesis

importantforthe

reptiles’ conservation.

CapeEleuthera

Institute

ceibahamas.

org; The

Herpetological

Bulletin:doi.

org/10.33256/

hb150.3940

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