By Kaya 959 News
While the more than 40 000 visitors to Durban’s beaches have packed up and gone home, one visitor in particular seems to have overstayed its welcome.
Durban snake catcher Jason Arnold, rescued a female snake from the Glenashley beach on Thursday. This is the second mamba rescued from a Durban beach in recent times.
Arnold said he received a call from a fisherman about a snake that was spotted in the surf. He suspected it was a black mamba presumably washed down a storm water pipe which directly leads to that beach, and his suspicions were confirmed when the fisherman sent him images of the snake.
Arnold said he encountered a massive traffic issue while driving to the beach and received word that the snake had been dragged back out to sea.
“Whilst on my way there through heavy Verulam traffic, the person called back to tell me that a big wave broke on the shore and took the snake back out into the sea and it was now quite far out. I told them to just carry on watching until I got there. By the time I arrived, the Mamba had literally just been washed up on the shore again and catching it was really easy because the snake was obviously quite exhausted,” he said.
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Arnold said he remained on the beach with it and a brave young lady happily assisted him in holding the body up in the air, whilst he gently held the head facing down, allowing gravity to drain the much swallowed and inhaled water.
“Every time the snake exhaled, I could literally feel the vibrating of the gurgling water in its lung. And with every breath, a bit of water would drain out of the snakes mouth,” he said.
Once he had drained all of the water that wanted to come out, he safely bagged the snake in a large duvet cover.
“The female Mamba measuring about 2.3m will be taken home and kept under observation until it can be given a clear bill of health. Thereafter, it will be released into a suitable habitat away from humans,” Arnold said.
Last month, Arnold rescued two mambas both in Durban’s Redcliffe area.
The first was a 2.3m male.
“The resident said that when he grabbed hold of an edge of the tarpaulin, he felt something soft and rubbery and realized he had grabbed hold of a coil of a large grey snake that had obviously taken cover under the tarpaulin.
With that he dropped everything and called for help and kept an eye on the area from a distance until I arrived. I managed to safely catch the black mamba,” he said.
In the second rescue, about 10 minutes later, Arnold rescued a 1.5m green mamba.
He said the snake was under a table in the family’s lounge.
“Green mambas do not occur in the Verulam area and had to have accidentally hitched a ride to the area in somebody’s car.
Upon questioning the family, it was established that they had been to Port Edward down the South Coast the week before, and had parked their car close to trees and bush. It is safe to assume that they drove it back to their home unintentionally,” he said.
Both snakes were later released.
Image credit: Facebook
