Durban - To the uninformed it was lovemaking of a particularly repellent sort, but to a Durban herpetophile witnessing the act was a little moment of heaven.
It all started on Thursday when workers were clearing a patch of bush for development in Westborough Drive, Westville.
The men came upon two large snakes wrapped around each other, and when the manager on the construction site saw the workers wanted to kill the serpents, he contacted local snake wrangler, Nick Evans.
By then, the mambas had rolled away some distance and were near a wood pile.
Evans said that contrary to popular belief, the mambas were not mating.
“This is typical combat display, between two males,” he explained.
“They’ll wrestle like this for a female. They don’t fight to the death, just until one gives up and retreats.”
Evans was tickled pink to have finally observed the phenomenon first hand.
“It’s something I’ve dreamt of seeing,” he said.
“They sure made my day,” Evans said.
He said while wrestling, the snakes go into a trance, entirely focusing on each other. This allowed him to creep right up to their tails.
Evans said the mambas were locked around each other, throwing each other from side to side.
“I was just watching, in awe. I took a quick video. It was only when I was reaching for them, did they realise there was a threat. I grabbed them with my stick. They were both exhausted from battle.”
He said he would have preferred to leave the snakes in their natural habitat but did not want to take a chance they would be killed.
He decided to use the capture as an educational tool and gave the workers a talk about the behaviour of snakes.
“I got them to conquer the fear and a chance to touch this magnificent animal. All the workers posed for a pic, touched it. It was such a pleasant sight,” he said.
The black mamba is common in Durban valleys.
Evens said their reputation for being aggressive was false and over-exaggerated.
He can be contacted at 072 809 5806. For snake educational work, e-mail [email protected]
Daily News