Durban — A female black mamba ‘evicted’ a security guard from his guard house before it was removed by snake catcher Jason Arnold who also, with the aid of a volunteer, helped the snake shed before he released it.
Arnold, The Snake Man, said that he was recently called out to Mount Moreland, an area near the King Shaka International Airport for a snake.
The snake was apparently inside a guard house.
Arnold said that the person who called him had a look and said it was a black mamba. He knows what mambas look like because he has called Arnold out for one before.
Although Arnold was directed to where the snake was, he said sometimes you go into a place thinking the snake is in one place while the snake is looking over your shoulder. However, in this case, the snake was where it was last seen.
Arnold pulled back a mat on the wall and there the snake was, he could see its head.
While holding the mat back, Arnold used his grab stick to grab the snake, but before he could pull the snake out of the wall, he said it was latching onto something inside the wall.
However, after a few seconds, he pulled the snake out of the wall.
Arnold said the snake looked about 2.2 metres in length.
He also said that the snake was in blue and it was going to shed, it was pretty ready to shed.
“You can see how the skin is already coming off the body … Just from him being in tight spaces and cruising around. That skin’s already trying to come off.
“Should we shed him? Help him along,” Arnold said.
After checking, Arnold said the mamba was female.
He said he would help the snake shed so that when he released it, it would be able to see where it was.
He also said that the shedding does not hurt the snake and likened it to sunburn.
Arnold said that the skin came off easily.
“I want her to be able to see properly,” Arnold said.
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