Durban — A black mamba decided to play cat-and-mouse with a snake catcher who tried to remove it from a TLB on a farm on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
Despite the brief cat-and-mouse game, snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe said it was a nice catch.
Van der Merwe said that he was in Southbroom on a call-out when the farm owner called and said that they were loading sugar cane when a snake came out of the dry bundles and dashed into the TLB. The owner then asked him to come and remove the snake.
Van der Merwe said that he rushed to Lynton Farm in Oribi for the black mamba which had curled itself up by the hydraulic pipes.
“I couldn’t put my grab stick in there so I had to climb in and remove the top cover to catch him from the top and he moved to the front of the engine. I jumped down and ran to the front of the TLB. I found him on the side of the engine and removed him safely,” Van der Merwe said.
He said the catch was easy, quick and easy, the “challenge” was driving to the location.
He also said that the snake was a bit brown because it will shed soon, it will be in the blues.
Van der Merwe added that it was the first black mamba he placed in his new snake travel box.
He said that the box makes for an easy release. A rope is tied to the handle and pulled open. There is no added stress on the snake when it is handled unnecessarily.
As a friendly reminder, Van der Merwe said he does not release the black mamba in Oribi.
He said that he released this black mamba on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, two weeks ago, Van der Merwe removed two green mambas, one at a coffee shop and another at the entrance to a church.
The coffee shop snake up in a tall tree at the parking area.
Van der Merwe said that a ladder was organised for him and he grabbed it with his long stick.
“It was tangled on the branches. So I got it down, necked it, took pictures and bagged it,” Van der Merwe said.
He said that he was then called out to a church where a green mamba was at the entrance.
“The snake became religious and wanted to go into the church,” joked Van der Merwe.
He said it was an easy catch. He used his grab stick and necked the snake before bagging it.
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