Durban - Two male puff adders were rescued from the same area after they followed the scent of a dead female puff adder that had died from a traumatic injury after being rescued.
Durban snake catcher Nick Evans said that on Friday he rescued a male puff adder in the same area.
“I was called to remove this beautiful male and was not harmed at all!”
“Stunning colouration, with a slight bit of orange on the face.”
Evans said that his friend Duncan Slabbert had picked up a smaller male a few days prior.
“Being the mating season, they are obviously following the deceased female’s scent. They’ll never find her. That smell can linger for a little while it seems,” Evans said.
“Duncan’s male was exactly where the female was, on a beam against the shipping container. This one was on the other side of the shipping container.”
“The photo is a bit deceptive. It did this for a few seconds; other than that, it was just trying to get away. Not a grumpy specimen,” Evans said.
He added that he was grateful to the caller for trying his best to have the snakes saved.
Evans had rescued the female puff adder near Mariannhill, west of Durban.
The snake had been hanging around a shipping container for a few days. He could not get to the snake because it would go back under and there was no lifting it.
Evans said that on the day of the rescue, the snake was basking on some pipes.
“When I arrived, I learnt she had just gone into a pipe. I looked in and saw it. She was beautiful!”
“One of the staff members emptied her out, and all my excitement died,” Evans said.
“Her tail was clearly broken and bleeding.”
Evans said he called Dangerous Creatures at uShaka Sea World, who did not hesitate in allowing him to bring the injured animal in for the veterinary team to look at.
“Unfortunately, once X-rays were done, we could see it was all over for this stunning snake,” Evans said.
“...Multiple ribs were shattered. That's not a big issue, usually. They can survive with a few broken ribs. But the spine was totally severed, destroyed. She must have been hit with some force. A bit of an organ was sticking out,” Evans said.
“What was so devastating is that it was almost right on the vent, where everything came out. If the break was down past that, it would have been okay.”
Daily News