Durban - Snake catcher Nick Evans said it was black mamba mating season and things were getting exciting, after he reported on a memorable call in Reservoir Hills last week, where he and Dr Cormac Price rescued a pair of mambas cuddling.
The mambas were at an office premises.
Evans said there were specific safety reasons why they had removed the snake pair.
He said, firstly, the mambas were alongside an office premises.
“Employees weren't very comfortable with their presence, and understandably so,” Evans said.
Secondly, one staff member lived there, and her front door was behind where they were standing in the beginning of the video.
“She was terrified!”
“There was a slim chance the mambas would have come up, but no one was too keen to take a chance. There were also houses up and to the left of where they were,” Evans said.
Thirdly, Evans said: “I have had incidents where resident mambas elude me, only to pick them up one day, dead, usually killed by people. It's devastating. While these employees wouldn't have done that, someone in a neighbouring property may have.”
Evans added that the mambas were released together in a much safer environment for them. The snakes would not get separated.
“Males can pick up the scent of a female from far away,” he said.
He also said that Cormac was not close to being bitten.
“I wouldn't have let that happen. I knew what I was doing, had control, was aware of where he was,” Evans said.
Describing the mambas, Evans said the larger one was a female and the smaller one was male.
Evans said that every mamba rescue assisted with their research work. They were looking at all aspects of black mamba ecology and biology in Durban, so they could understand them as well as possible, in order to best conserve them.
Earlier, Evans reported that on May 4, he removed a female black mamba at the same property, then he removed two more males and then last week, he rescued two more mambas.
“Five mambas at that property now, and I'm sure there will be at least one more male, following the scent of that female,” Evans said.
He said those mambas were on the same spot.
The big mamba, which was 2.5m long, was female. The 2m+- was a male, Evans said.
Daily News