Durban — An armed response officer came to a homeowner’s rescue when he removed a Mozambique spitting cobra in Parkgate, Verulam, on Saturday afternoon.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said the cobra, measuring just over a metre in length, was captured by a reaction officer in a home in C Section, Parkgate.
Balram said that the homeowner contacted Rusa for help at approximately 12.32pm after noticing a black snake in an outbuilding, however, the homeowner was unable to identify the snake.
“Reaction officers were dispatched and on arrival discovered the highly venomous reptile behind a stack of beer crates,” Balram said.
“Rusa member Nkosinathi Ndaba captured the snake and relocated it to an area away from the homes.”
There have been a few cobra rescues in eThekwini of late.
Last month, snake handler Jason Arnold identified a cobra by its hiss before seeing it in a bathroom in the Clare Estate area. He had been called out for what was described to him as a “very large” snake in the bathroom.
When Arnold reached the home, he entered the bathroom cautiously and from the hiss the snake was making he could tell it was a spitting cobra – they have a very distinctive hiss, Arnold described in his capture video.
“That’s definitely a spitting cobra,” Arnold said while pulling a washing basket away, revealing the cobra.
Within seconds, he had the tongs behind the cobra’s head and grabbed it.
Arnold said that this was the second spitting cobra in 18 months that he had caught inside people’s homes.
In the same month, snake rescuer Nick Evans received a call about a big snake at an office park in Westville and the caller sent a picture.
“It wasn't a black mamba, but a large Mozambique spitting cobra. Can’t say I was disappointed that it was a spitting snake!” Evans said.
The caller watched the snake and did not take his eyes off it until Evans arrived.
The snake had been hiding under a large aircon unit but kept trying to exit. It saw the caller, standing on the level above, and nervously, retreated back under the aircon unit.
He said that when he looked under the unit, he could see this was a very impressive cobra. Fortunately, it was not too difficult a catch.
Evans said the cobra was around the 1.4m mark but weighed over 1.2kg.
Evans explained that it is the mating season now for the species. “This time of year we usually see a number of large cobras – they can be seen throughout summer, but there are more at this time of year, he finds. Males are on the move looking for females.
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