DURBAN - After two black mambas visited a KwaZulu-Natal family’s newly acquired rabbit cage in the span of two days, the rabbits were rehomed and snake expert Nick Evans was called to the rescue.
Evans said he had just arrived home from a trip when he got the call.
“This mamba was on the roof of a large rabbit cage,” he said, adding that it was more like a room.
He said the homeowner had taken in a bunch of rabbits from a family member who needed to get rid of them quickly and that the plan was to find homes for them.
“He'd only had them a week until they attracted this mamba,” said Evans.
However, Evans said the homeowner has had visits from black mambas before.
He said the home was nestled away in thick bush with not many homes around, and described the area as a prime mamba habitat.
Evans said when he arrived at the home, the homeowner was waiting for him, a distance away from the rabbits, in order to not disturb the mamba.
“If it did get disturbed, it could have gone up into the tall trees, making capture difficult. I had my binoculars with me, and I approached slowly, scanning the roof. I noticed the body wrapped around a branch that hung down along the side of the rabbit cage,” he said.
He said the snake was not moving.
“It was just perched there, desperately staring at its potential lunch! It was quite a sight. The rabbits had just had babies, and that's what the mamba was eyeing out,” said Evans.
Walking around the cage, Evans rushed around the corner and surprised the snake.
“It just froze, and although they don't pull faces, I could still see it looked completely shocked! I grabbed it quickly, and gently pulled it out of the tree, pinning it down on the floor,” he said.
Evans said the mamba was underweight and measured 2.2m in length.
“It could really have done with that meal. It had a few damaged scales on the neck. I think it had tried squeezing in through the mesh somewhere, before the homeowners noticed it,” he said.
He said that the very next day there was another black mamba at the rabbit cage.
“So, needless to say, the rabbits have since found a home,” he added.
THE MERCURY