Durban snake rescuer Jason Arnold was called in to catch a black mamba which was found under a vacuum cleaner in a house on Fairview Drive in the Brindhaven area of Verulam on Sunday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said the homeowner contacted Rusa for assistance after he discovered the snake under a vacuum cleaner in his passage.
He said when Rusa members arrived at the property, they identified the snake as a black mamba.
“Professional snake catcher Jason Arnold arrived shortly thereafter and removed the highly venomous snake from the home,” said Balram.
Balram added that the black mamba will be relocated to an environment away from the public.
In a separate incident on November 12, in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, snake catcher Mark Marshall warned the public to always put on the bathroom light when answering nature's call after a woman found a brown house snake under her toilet seat.
He said a woman from Boshoff Street in Linton Grange went to the toilet at 4am and afterwards saw a snake in the loo.
“Always turn the light on when you go to the loo,” he said.
Marshall identified the snake as a harmless brown house snake.
Earlier this year, The Mercury reported that local snake catcher Nick Evans found a 2.1 metre black mamba living in the base of a bed in the Yellowwood Park area in Durban
Evans said the bedroom was full of all sorts of items which made the search difficult and advised the homeowner that this was probably the reason why the snake chose to come into this room. He said the window was also left open and that was how it probably gained entry.
