Durban - A Durban resident was shocked to find a black mamba looking down at him while answering nature’s call.
A resident from Seaview in the south of Durban got a shocking surprise when a black mamba was discovered looking down from the ceiling while the resident was using a toilet on Friday.
Local snake rescuer Nick Evans said he received a call from friend and fellow snake catcher from Umbilo, Grant Cavanagh, who said that there was a snake in the ceiling of a house in Seaview.
Evans said they had attempted to catch the same snake earlier that day elsewhere in the house without success.
“Now, someone went to the toilet, and spotted the snake looking at them from above,” he said.
Cavanagh went to investigate and was forced to break a large hole in the ceiling as there was no trapdoor.
He lifted a piece of board and found a large mamba curled up underneath it.
“It was indeed a large, chunky mamba. I was thinking how I was going to do this. I couldn’t hold up the board and catch the mamba at the same time. It looked a bit big to flip over, plus, if I did that, the mamba might flee,” he said.
According to Evans, Cavanagh volunteered to stand below and hold the board up with a broom, while I restrained the mamba.
“I reached toward the startled mamba, and dragged its head towards me, so I could restrain it. It took a short while to reverse back into the tongs, but it eventually did. I passed the tail down to Grant, as I climbed down with the head,” he said.
He said the mamba was well fed and was 2.3 metres long.
“Everyone there, including CPF members, were excited to see it, although the family were more excited about it being taken away,” said Evans.
Meanwhile, in a separate call out on the same night, Evans was called by a man at about 11pm who said there was a black mamba behind his neighbour’s oven in Savannah Park area near Chatsworth.
He said the man’s female neighbour had been baking at the time, when she discovered the mamba behind the oven.
“I raced over. I got calls on the way there, asking how far out I was, with the gentleman saying ‘It's starting to move!’ Fortunately, the mamba sensed the people whenever it considered coming out, and opted to stay hidden. It was a quick and easy catch, although it was another well-fed and powerful animal,” said Evans.
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