KNYSNA NEWS - Several shoppers were seen curiously staring up at a Plane Tree in Knysna’s Woodmill Lane on Friday, May 6.
"At first glance there didn’t seem to be anything noteworthy in the tree, but on closer inspection a heron could be seen, sitting quietly and completely upright," told an eyewitness.

On yet a closer look, it was noticed that the heron had what looked like a snake caught in its claw. In fact, the snake was a dead snake eel, and it wasn’t caught in the claw, but rather entangled by fishing gut, the same fishing gut that caused the heron to be caught in the tree.

A local fishing expert and manager of the fishing department of a new sport shop, Shaun Brown explained that the Heron may have got itself snared in fishing gut, which had entangled the snake eel, while walking in shallow waters of the lagoon.

A staff member of Woodmill Walk fetched a ladder to try to free the bird but was nervous of, what he thought to be, the ‘snake’.
A young bystander, Dwayne Moos, thought nothing of scaling the ladder, armed with a pair of scissors handed to him by Bloomers Florist, Shona Budden, and within seconds, he had cut the gut and freed both the heron and, to much screaming and scampering from the crowd, the dead snake eel.

While Moos picked up the eel, the heron dropped to the ground and ran into the nearby coffee shop, Picola Italia, appearing disorientated.

Trying to escape the curious onlookers it then ran into the Wild Iris, where Lulama Breakfast grabbed it and secured its long neck before he walked outside and threw the bird into the air, enabling the heron to take flight, heading towards the lagoon.
Breakfast explained, "I used to own pigeons, so I’m not scared of birds, and I knew that this bird was scared and that I had to get it flying as soon as possible."

Alex de Marese of Picola Italia, explained that the bird had landed in the tree unseen, "I noticed that people started looking up and then only realised that it was in the tree. It was only there for about fifteen minutes."

Brown explained: "These snake eels live mostly under the White Bridge and the Crab’s Creek jetty. When fishermen cast their bait, the snake eel grabs it and takes it down the hole in which it lives."

He further explained that the eels slither up the line and get themselves entangled in the gut. "These eels are very slimy and anglers are often loath to touch them; I’m not sure if they are poisonous or not," he explained. It is thought that an angler may have caught the eel, cut the line, and let it fall back into the lagoon where the unsuspecting heron fell prey to it. Brown urged anglers to ensure that ‘caught’ snake eels are safely discarded - "That way we can prevent birds from getting snared and dying a very slow and painful death."

According to Brown, snake eels are a delicacy in some European countries. "I believe that these eels are a German delicacy," said Brown. He explained that a German tourist had asked him to provide him with eels, which he later cooked. "I believe they are delicious." Brown didn’t reveal whether or not he had eaten one.


Cheers were heard in Woodmill Lane when the trapped heron took flight after being stuck in a tree.


Dwayne Moos holds up the dead snake eel (with the fishing line attached). Moos had scampered up the ladder to cut the fishing gut which had ensnared the heron.

ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN