Durban - Local snake catcher Nick Evans ended an already busy month for mamba calls with two black mamba rescues on Tuesday.
Evans said the first call was from Westville North.
He said a gardener was sitting in his room, having lunch, when he was suddenly joined by an inquisitive mamba, which slithered into his room.
“He acted quickly, and jumped out the relatively small window, at speed.”
Evans said he was impressed that the gardener had the presence of mind to trap the snake by closing the window behind him as well as the door.
“Not many people would have the presence of mind to do that. It was a good thing he did, because when I walked in, the mamba was on the window, trying to get out.”
He said the snake was big, but relatively small for a mamba at 1.8 metres.
“Ones this size are fast, and arguably a bit more skittish than the larger ones. It dashed down to the floor, going from side to side, before I grabbed it.”
Recalling the second catch of the day, Evans said he went to a home in Savannah Park in Pinetown.
He said a man had opened his shed to get something, when he spotted a black mamba curled up, having an afternoon snooze.
“When I arrived, and he opened the shed, it was still there, but quickly dashed behind some boxes.
“Fortunately, there wasn't an awful lot in there for it to hide behind. However, while moving the boxes, the mamba must have got a fright, and at the last second I noticed it was dashing in a direction a bit too close for comfort – headed for a large sack next to me, and I could only see the tail, meaning the head had already passed me. I stepped back, right back, in fact, right out of the shed, at speed.”
Evans explained that if the snake had intended to attack him, it would have bitten him. Instead the mamba was desperate to hide.
“I went back in, after scanning around, lifted the large sack, and found it hiding under there, where I caught it.”
He said the mamba’s eye had “clouded over”, which meant that it was in the process of shedding.
This affects their vision, making them extra nervous, he said.
Evans said the 2.1m mamba was chunky.
