Cape Town - A Cape Town man has been hailed as a hero after he caught a two-metre long Cape Cobra with his bare hands.
Frik Botha, 50, from Sherwood Park, says he and his colleagues got a huge fright when they found the deadly snake in their office.
Botha has been working as a welder at Trailers Tow-It in Rugby for the past four years and has never seen a snake in the workshop before.
“I got a fright when I saw it slither into the shop from the back entrance,” he told the Daily Voice.
He said he quickly grabbed a broom and trapped the venomous snake under it.
“I wasted no time and pressed its head flat with a broom, but it felt threatened and kept trying to snap at me... the snake would come up at waist length and hiss and spit. I grabbed it with my hands and curled it around my arm.”
A fellow worker brought a bag, and he put it inside before calling for help.
Botha’s colleagues praised his bravery, but Frik, who has a history with snakes, says he wasn’t afraid at all.
“When I was a young boy growing up in Pretoria, I used to catch snakes and keep it in a tank,” he said.
“I would feed it one mouse and that mouse would last it a whole week before the snake gets hungry again.
“If my wife would allow it now, I would get a snake again as a pet,” he jokes.
Wanika Davids of the SPCA advised people to never approach a snake unless you’re a professional.
* To remove a snake, call the SPCA on 021 700 4158/9 or after hours on 083 326 1604.
Daily Voice