DURBAN – A day after Westville North residents rescued a 2.4 metre injured black mamba by stopping traffic, the snake is doing well.
Snake rescuer Nick Evans said he took the mamba to a vet at Ushaka Sea World on Thursday.
The Mercury reported on Wednesday that residents stopped traffic on Robert Herrick Avenue to allow the snake to cross after they noticed it was injured.
According to Evans, the snake was slithering across the road with its head raised because it was in pain and possibly afraid as people were standing around it.
After the mamba was captured, blood was found in its mouth and Evans was not certain that mamba would survive through the night.
In an update on the mamba’s condition today, Evans said the snake is doing well.
Evans said he took the mamba to Ushaka Sea World today, where the veterinary team, Dr. Francois Lampen and Marle Benade inspected it, with help from the Dangerous Creatures team.
The mamba was placed in a clear tube to make it safer for the team to assess it.
“I was very concerned by the blood coming out the mouth and nose yesterday, when I picked it up.The bleeding has completely stopped. It doesn't look like there’s internal bleeding, but it’s hard to say. There could be some, although not a lot at least,” he said.
Evans said it was miraculous that there were no broken bones visible on the mamba’s x-ray.
“The only damage really were the damaged scales on the back, where the tyre went over it. Perhaps it was a motorbike tyre? Although I just can’t picture someone riding over a 2m long mamba with a bike, unless he/she somehow didn’t see it,” he said.
He said the 2.4 metre male mamba, which weighs 1.3kgs is still very strong.
“We'll be holding onto it for a few days for further monitoring. If all looks good, it will be released in a suitable area,” said Evans.
Recalling the day of the rescue, Evans said it was nice to see how much concern the residents had for the snake.
“Thank you to those who cared. These are not evil creatures. They are animals that are scared of people, have no desire to kill us, and who serve an important role in the environment by controlling rodent and dassie numbers,” he said.