Dangerous snake encounter incidents

[Flutterby]

The stuff of nightmares!

[Alf]

Weird area for that type of snake

[Peter Betts]

Looks more like a Rinkals ??

[Lisbeth]

2019-05-16 15:10
Sharlene Rood

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Residents of a home in Ndwedwe, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, found themselves in a scaly situation when a 2.2m black mamba took up occupancy in their roof.

Nick Evans, owner of KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, was called to the scene to remove the snake and described the rescue as the "most thrilling" of the year so far.

"For a start it was… a very long drive," he told News24. "Then we had to try and find it in the ceiling. And I had to stand on [a] not so stable ladder. Some of the steps were broken."

At one point during the rescue he fell from the ladder, when the mamba's tail suddenly popped from the roof.

"I fell back, I was next to a chest freezer and I landed on that. It gave me a fright," he said.

Evans was called out to the area on April 18, on the eve of the Easter weekend.

Intimidating sound

"It was quite something," he said. "Everything about it was difficult."

Evans says it took them nearly two hours to locate the snake in the roof of the rondavel, cutting holes in the plastic tarp that covered the roof as they went along.

"You can hear it moving around. It's such a specific intimidating sound," he said.

He says all of the residents of the property had helped out by keeping watch.

When they eventually found the snake, Evans said the man in the room with him wanted to bolt.

Evans said he needed his help to shine a torchlight on the snake.

"The poor guy, he was terrified."

Tense moments

"When I was pulling it out, there was a moment where it just started reversing very quickly. Too quickly."

He said the snake could easily have taken a swipe at his hand or face.

At this point, Evans found himself crouching down on the ladder, trying to find cover behind a wall, until he was able pin the head of the snake down.

"It was tense."

The snake was also in the process of shedding its skin, which Evans said makes them a bit more defensive due to the fact that their vision is affected.

"There is a scale on their eyes and their eyes cloud over. Their vision is badly affected, so they're a bit more grumpy."

Evans suspects the snake was seeking shelter in the roof from a looming storm.

"They love ceilings because it's warm and safe."

He said mambas were "not the evil monsters people make them out to be".

"If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone."

The mamba was set free in a valley, not too far from the rescue site, where "it shouldn't bump into people again".

Scarier still

But that wasn't the end of Evans' saga - after the rescue he was caught in a downpour and his windscreen wipers failed.

"It was an absolute nightmare."

"That was even more terrifying than the snake capture," he quipped.


https://www.news24.com/Video/SouthAfric ... e-20190516

[Richprins]

[Flutterby]

[Lisbeth]

Black mamba sightings: It's mating season, so 'call the professionals'

2019-06-20 05:33
Kamva Somdyala

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A family in Westville, Durban had an unexpected visitor at their door earlier this month.

e KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation advises.

Mating season is the reason for the recent rise in cases of black mambas sightings in and around Durban, the conservation's Nick Evans said. The season ends at the beginning of August, Evans added, sating "other snakes will come together in September".

"It's normal [to see so many cases of black mambas being spotted by people] this time of the year. People normally call a day or even a week later to report seeing them," he said, adding that the number of cases reported over the past week or so had decreased.

This, said Evans, was because of the drop in temperatures in KwaZulu-Natal. In the past two weeks, he had been called out "about 15 times" to catch black mambas. "I obviously didn't catch all of them."

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Black mamba captured after snake fight at KZN office park

Employees working at the Westway Office Park in Durban, had their lunch hour interrupted, when they stumbled on two black mambas combating, earlier this month.

The latest incident involved a 10-minute mission to catch a 2.3m black mamba a Westville family found, while employees at the Westway Office Park in Durban had their lunch hour interrupted when they stumbled on two snakes earlier this month.

'Leave them alone'

So, what do you do when you see one?

"Leave them alone. Do not attack them," Evans advised, adding that black mambas do not bite unless attacked.

"I guess they've got a bad name. If you spot a black mamba 2m or 3m from you, leave it. It won't hurt you."

After Evans catches one, he normally inserts a microchip in it.

The microchip, he explained, was to keep track of the reptile.

[Lisbeth]

2019-06-24 19:16

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A teenage boy's regular walk home from school in Edendale, KwaZulu-Natal, was stopped short by a huge python earlier this month.

"I got a call from a boy called Thami. He said there was python in a nearby veld," Nick Evans, the owner of the KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, told News24.

At first Evans thought it was a false sighting and asked Thami to send him a picture.

"Often, people call and say there is a python but then it isn't one."

Once Evans received photographic evidence he dashed to Edendale.

When he arrived, he found a crowd had gathered around the reptile, which had coiled itself into a ball.

Evans carefully approached the snake and was able to grab its tail.

"The python was severely underweight," he said.

Subsequently, he took the reptile to the vet for medical attention.

Just as Evans was about to end his work day, he received another call - this time from police officers in the district of Nsuze near Nkandla.

Locals in the area had also stumbled on a python.

When he arrived in Nsuze, he was told a traditional healer had taken the snake and dropped it into an empty pit. With the help of the police, Evans was able to gain access to the snake.

He found it coiled up in the pit looking lethargic.

The snake was also underweight and required medical attention.

[Lisbeth]

Five black mambas surround ‘snake magnet’ home in Durban

2019-07-09 19:12

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KwaZulu-Natal snake catcher Nick Evans faced an unusual challenge when he was called out to remove five black mambas from a single Durban property in June.

"It was very exciting for me," said Evans who owns the KZN Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

Evans described the property in Reservoir Hills as a "snake magnet".

"There were two males on the property and one female. The two males were wrestling one another."

He told News24 on his first visit he was able to catch one male and the female, but the second male managed to slither away.

The homeowners then resorted to burning the thick vegetation to get rid of the strong scent.

"A week later, I was called back for another snake sighting. We were able to track down a male black mamba that had been hiding behind two walls."

On the eighth day, Evans said he caught a fifth snake on the property.

"We also had a bit of rain that week that I think managed to get rid of the female's scent," he explained.

Evans said black mamba sightings were common during the months of June and July as a result of the mating season.

"The female's scent is like a snake magnet that keeps the males coming back," he said.

[Flutterby]

I would move house!