According to the literature, only three life-threatening species of snake are found in the Natal Drakensberg.  These are the deadly poisonous puff adder and rinkhals, and the seriously poisonous berg adder.  The less poisonous night adder is common in forested areas.  There are no mambas, boomslangs or other poisonous tree-climbing snakes to be found here. Puff adders and rinkhals are seldom encountered in the higher reaches of the Berg and seem to prefer the lower-lying farmlands, but the high Berg is the natural home of the berg adder and it may even be encountered on the escarpment. The rinkhals is more frequently encountered in the rocky grasslands of the southern Berg.

More common is the slender skaapsteker, which is harmless to humans.  Several other species of snake commonly occur in the Berg, the largest of which is the brown water snake, which may grow to over 2 metres in length, and frequents river banks as its name suggests.  The extremely rare and elusive African rock python, which may grow to several metres in length, may occur in some of the lower reaches of the Berg.

Experienced snake handlers have also reported seeing the deadly poisonous Cape cobra, which may be mistaken for the skaapsteker, especially if you are unaware that the Cape cobra may be encountered in the Berg.  The author once came across a snake in the Highmoor area which was about a metre long and dusty straw-yellow in colour, with a slightly lighter-coloured belly and otherwise lacking the stripes or speckling which are characteristic of the skaapstekers.  He decided to take a closer look, upon which the snake reared up, formed a partial hood, hissed very loudly and struck really hard at his trekking pole.  He backed off quickly, surprised that this unusually large and strangely coloured “skaapsteker” should exhibit any of these behaviours!  He – correctly, as it turned out – started thinking that it could not have been a skaapsteker.  It was only a year later that a local snake handler mentioned that he had seen Cape cobras in the Berg.  Had the author been aware of this at the time of the encounter, he would have known immediately what he was dealing with and kept well clear!  If bitten by a Cape cobra, the symptoms and treatment are much the same as for the rinkhals, but far more urgent and life-threatening.