Durban — A 2.5m black mamba was rescued after it had entered a township home and hid behind a fridge before moving to the TV area.
The black mamba was rescued on Saturday by Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans and his friend Duncan Slabbert, who had responded to a call in KwaDabeka for a large snake that had entered a home.
“The residents had reacted well when the snake came slithering in from outside. They stayed away from it, and when it hid behind the fridge, they evacuated the house. They called me, while one of the residents stood at the door to watch if the snake moved out from its hiding spot,” Evans said.
He said that they had an interesting drive to the house. Fireworks were being sold at the traffic lights and he did not remember seeing that before. Slabbert was shouted at for parking in front of someone’s shop while waiting a few seconds for Evans.
Evans explained that no one had tried killing the snake, which was great. Not just for the snake’s well-being, or from an environmental point of view. Trying to kill a snake, particularly the species this turned out to be, would be dangerous.
He also said that the snake did not want to bite anyone, it only wanted to hide. However, if it was attacked, it would have defended itself.
“Duncan and I started moving all sorts of things around the fridge, and eventually the fridge, with no sign of the snake. We noticed it could have moved along the wall, and all around the room, without anyone being able to see it, as it had plenty of cover. At least we knew it was inside,” Evans said.
“Duncan pulled away a long TV cabinet and caught a glimpse of movement. He shone his torch under there, and could positively ID that it was as we suspected: a black mamba.
“The two of us worked together moving things out the way, then moving the cabinet further back, before finally pulling the mamba out, with Duncan securing the head,” Evans explained.
“It was a good-sized, female mamba, 2.5m in length.”
Evans added that it was a surprising way for the day to end for those residents. They were grateful for the help, Evans and Slabbert were grateful they called.
“It was the first proper adventure in a week, due to the cooler, rainy conditions, so we were both chuffed!” Evans said.
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