Durban — A KwaZulu-Natal South Coast snake catcher was called out to a green mamba and black mamba on two consecutive days this week.
Sarel van der Merwe said he got a call for a green mamba on Monday and then a black mamba on Tuesday.
For the green mamba, Van der Merwe was called out to Munster for a snake that ended up under the couch in the sitting room.
“They called me and said there was a green mamba under the curtain,” Van der Merwe said.
He said that by the time he got to the call-out, the snake had gone under the couch.
“The dog chased it inside the house. It was fleeing from a dog,” Van der Merwe said.
He said it was an easy catch, “green mambas are easy”.
Van der Merwe added that the snake was a female.
He said that the next day, he was called out for a black mamba in a storeroom at 12.30 in the day.
Van der Merwe said the catch of the day was a black mamba that was playing hide-and-seek in a storeroom that was as hot as a sauna in Port Shepstone.
He said he had to clear the bottom of the storeroom and work himself to the shelves.
“It was very hot. That storeroom was like a sauna. I was sweating, it was hot,” Van der Merwe said.
“I first unpacked everything on the floor, so I can make space to walk.
“Of course, if I move things, I check for a black mamba,” Van der Merwe said.
He said he suspected the snake was in a box because the family had pointed out to him where they last saw the snake.
“Then I said to them, ‘If he is still in here, he can easily escape out the roof because there are holes on the roof’ and as we moved everything, on the bottom, I touched the box with my stick and he flew out like a rocket… going for the holes to escape. So I grabbed him with a long grab stick, he had nowhere to go, nowhere,” Van der Merwe explained.
“I took him outside for photos and I bagged him.”
Daily News