DURBAN – The “girlfriend” of two black mambas that were captured in the roof of a Queensburgh property last week by local snake rescuer Nick Evans was captured last week.
Evans said after initially capturing the male on Monday, he went back to the property the following two mornings, hoping to capture the female mamba.
“You may recall I recently caught one of two black mambas, which had been living in a roof in Queensburgh. Well, towards the end of last week, I caught his girlfriend!”
He explained that the female snake was seen basking in the tree above the roof, where he had seen the male chase off a smaller male.
After rushing over to the property, Evans couldn’t find her initially as the snake had disappeared in the thick canopy of the tree.
“We scanned the trees for a few minutes, but there was no movement, although the homeowner and I were sure she was coming down. Sure enough, we saw her slither onto the roof of the adjacent building, which was much higher up than the one she had been residing in.”
As Evans stood on the embankment next to the house, he said there was no way to get to the snake.
He said she was determined to get to “her roof”.
“She must have seen me, and started moving quickly downwards, to get to the roof lower down. I tried climbing down, but it was slippery, and I came down quickly. The mamba climbed down a security gate, and went onto the floor. I don't think that was her plan. I nearly landed up on top of her, as I came sliding down.”
Fortunately, Evans said he missed the snake as he slid down a bank.
“She tried to make a break for it, for cover, but I got it before it could get away. Finally!”
He said the homeowner helped him collect data.
“She was the same length as the male, 2.5m, but was about 600g lighter. Quite interesting. She wasn't desperately underweight though, not enough to require treatment, so she has been released, where I released the male.”
