Durban — A security officer was hospitalised after he was bitten by a snake while on the job.
Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said that just after 9pm on Monday night, Emer-G-Med paramedics responded to the Prospecton area for a security officer who was bitten by a snake while on patrol.
"The man was treated and stabilised on scene before being taken to a nearby hospital for further care.
"He remains in a moderate condition," Van Reenen said
When asked about the man and the description of the snake, Van Reenen said unfortunately, the information was very limited.
Meanwhile, last month, Durban snake catcher Nick Evans said that although there is no footage, one can picture how a security guard tried jumping on a chair and falling, then jumping onto a counter and smashing through it, before fleeing the room when a black mamba came visiting.
That was what happened to a security guard in Manor Gardens in Durban.
“While sitting in his office, a 2.3metre black mamba slithered in, next to him. As just about anyone would, he completely freaked out. If I got the story right, he tried jumping on his chair to get out the window but fell off. Then he jumped onto the counter to jump out the window, but fell through it, and ended up going out the door,” Evans said.
He said the mamba would have been getting just as big a fright as the security guard.
The snake took cover behind a locker in the corner across from the door.
“I feel so sorry for him that he had to experience that. However, I found the story a tad bit amusing. He was fine.
“He’s lucky it was a black mamba and not an armed human. He’d likely be dead or in hospital if it was,” Evans said.
Evans said that the neighbourhood watch (NHW) was alerted and they contacted him and he met two members at the site.
He said the mamba was behind an easy-to-move locker.
“Easy catch, I thought. I was told it was active, it had come out of there, and went back. But this mamba was having a bad day and was in no mood to be poked and grabbed with a stick,” Evans said.
He added that one of the NHW gentlemen stayed in the room with him to help. That did not happen often.
“I pulled it out a bit, and the whole body quickly came out, and started moving to my right, behind a table leg. I grabbed the tail and tried grabbing around the neck area with the tongs. That was a serious offence to this mamba. It lashed out at me. That was unexpected. It was almost like a very short charge. Caught me off guard!” Evans explained.
He said that despite their reputation, black mambas were not normally as cheeky as this one was.
Daily News