DURBAN – An Eastern Cape man caught a puff adder on his stoep, bagged it and thought it was a good idea to take it to his local police station.
On Sunday night, Mark Marshall, who is a snake catcher in the Gqeberha area, posted on his Facebook page that he had to take a trip to the police station after a man found a puff adder, caught it, placed it in a bag and then took it to the police station.
“A man; Eugene Nelson; found a puff adder on his stoep. He caught it and placed it in a bag. What to do next?... take it to the nearest police station. A proud man waited for me at the station to ask that I don't kill the snake. He had such concern for the snake’s well being. After a long chat I left with the snake. This is a great story but please remember that puff adders can bite through bags; always be careful when handling them,” read the post.
In a separate post, Laura-Lynn Nel said: “this uncle doesn’t take nonsense, he takes him (snake) right to the police station.”
Nelson had placed the snake in a dog food bag, parts of which were transparent.
Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday, Marshall said that night the police from Kabega Park police station called and he was told that someone had brought in a snake.
“I arrived there and I saw the guy (Eugene Nelson) standing there with the snake in a packet and I nearly had a heart attack because that puff adder could have bitten through that packet any second,” Marshall said.
“My goodness that is scary.”
Marshall said he advised Nelson.
“His main concern, he didn’t know who I was, so he thought I would take that snake and kill it, or something. So he was concerned about the safety of the snake,” Marshall said.
He said he told him he was a snake handler and snake catcher. He will take the snake and release it.
Nelson was happy about that, he said.
Marshall said the puff adder was about a metre long and he has since released it into the wild.
He also said that a few years ago he received a call from the same police station about a snake.
“They actually had a snake in the police station which had entered the police station through the door,” Marshall said.
He said it was a brown house snake.
Commenting on Marshall’s post, Theresa Milne said: “lol, luckily the policewoman doesn't seem too fazed. Wonder if the rest of the cops all ran outside.”
Carolyn Mowbray: “Aaaaaw, there's even a window for the snake to see. No way in hell I'd be sitting there so calmly, tho!”
Dion Bareira: “That policewoman is a star. When I went to Kabega Park police station she is running around answering phones and filling in accident reports and helping everyone while the others sit and watch. She deserves recognition.”
Daily News