DURBAN - Nick Evans to the rescue as a large Mozambique spitting cobra slithered past an Inanda family as they sat in the lounge of their Mzinyathi area home and made its way into a bedroom.
Evans said the family had seen the cobra come right through the house.
He said the family had closed the door of the bedroom as well as the window to prevent it from escaping.
“When I arrived and walked into the room, I immediately spotted a coil of the cobra sticking out from under a piece of furniture. The space underneath was small, and I couldn't really see under there. So I decided to just flip it over, and by doing so, I exposed a rather surprised, large Mozambique Spitting Cobra,” he said.
Evans said the snake was cold to the touch as he pinned it down before it could spit venom on him.
He then took the snake outside and asked if anyone would like to touch the cobra.
“One boy was very keen and said he loves snakes. ‘I love all animals’, he then said. I could see he was genuinely interested. Thabiso was his name,” said Evans.
For safety, Evans said he placed the snake inside plastic snake tubes before Thabiso and his friend assisted to measure, weigh and identify the sex of the snake.
“He was a fantastic help, holding the snake for me (of course, under my close guidance - almost all of the time, I was holding it too). The tube was a little small for the cobra – it wasn't reversing out very easily. Basically, I wasn't putting him in danger, don't worry,” he added.
The female cobra measured 1.3m in length.
Evans said he planned to keep in touch with Thabiso and his friend.
“What cool kids,” he said.
The only challenge during the rescue, joked Evans, was an over protective dog.
“They had three dogs, all of which are apparently very protective of Thabiso. Only one let me come close. After I scratched its head, it wouldn't stop following me. It was such a sweet old Africanis,” he said.
Evans later released the cobra on a sunny hillside, with lots of rocks, other cover and no houses.
THE MERCURY