Durban - Cape cobras in the Western Cape region have started emerging around residential areas ahead of the summer season.
Table View resident Lynelle Naidoo, who lives about 20km north of Cape Town, said she and her family started noticing more snakes in a field behind their residential complex.
After contacting a professional snake handler to deal with them, it was found that the snakes were Cape cobras.
“Behind us is a beautiful vlei, which runs for about five kilometres or even more. During summer, we encountered quite a number of snakes, the deadliest obviously being a Cape cobra.
“When I say encounter, I don’t mean looking at them from a distance. It's literally at your doorstep. We find them all the time in the play areas, common areas around our complex,” Naidoo said.
She said they have added nets to the back and front door of their family home to try to prevent the serpents from sliding in.
IOL spoke to snake catcher Davine Sansom, 49, who went to the complex to remove the Cape cobra.
Sansom has been catching and releasing snakes back into the wild for about six years.
Sansom said she would speak to us on the condition that we don’t give snakes a bad image, explaining that people should expect that it’s summer now and snakes will come out.
“The complex I went to is right near a conservation area, I believe is Rietvlei, so it’s full of snakes. The most venomous being the Cape cobra, of course.
“From September to April, they will roam. They come to eat. Look for water, shade and following prey,” Sansom told IOL.
She said if people come across a Cape cobra, or any other snake for that matter, staying calm and keeping their eyes on the snake is the most important thing to remember.
“Snakes are way more scared of us than we are of them. That thing about snakes chasing you is all nonsense. But if you try to corner a Cape cobra, they will try to bite you.
“If you ever find one in your bedroom, close the door, put a towel by the door to jam it in. And call me or any other snake catcher.
“If it’s in your living room or any other room of the house that is opened up, stand at a safe distance and watch it until the snake catcher comes. Do not take your eyes off the snake,” she said.
When it comes to keeping snakes at bay, she said there is “no such thing as a snake repellent”.
The snakes she recovered from the complex in Table View were released back into the Blaauwberg reserve.
In Cape Town, just one person was bitten by a Cape cobra, that she can recall, and “the boy did not die”.
There are ways to help prevent snakes from finding shelter in your home and yard, which includes keeping your garden clear of long grass and rubbish.
She said keeping your place clutter free can help immensely.
IOL