DURBAN snake catcher Nick Evans rescued a pair of green mambas, both just over 1.7 metres long, in Adams Mission, south of Durban.
Evans said that he received a call from his friend and fellow snake catcher, Miguel da Fonseca, on Friday alerting him about one snake.
A picture of the snake was sent to Evans who said he noticed that the it had had a meal.
Evans said he met Da Fonseca and his wife Micaela at the caller’s house and they were led to where the mamba was spotted.
“The mamba was in a tree on the edge of a thicket, alongside a pathway. A very steep, muddy and slippery pathway,” he said.
Evans said ideally, they would have preferred to leave the snake there, however, it was going to come into conflict with humans again.
Da Fonseca managed to climb a nearby tree and grabbed the snake with tongs.
“The snake didn't put up much resistance. I managed to secure the head without much fuss. Its tail wrapped around a branch up out of my reach, so Da Fonseca had to unwrap it for me,” Evans said.
He said while securing the snake, the community members in attendance shouted that there was another snake also on the tree.
Evans said they were told to look higher up on the tree by the community members.
“We looked up, and to our disbelief, they were right. There was a second green mamba in the tree. This mamba was higher up, but it was moving in our direction.
He said Fonseca got up on the flimsy tree again while the snake moved quickly past him.
“He kept calm and still, before slowly reaching out to grab it, and he secured it. Two mambas in one tree is just unbelievable and so unexpected. Both snakes, a male and female, were just over 1.7m long,” he continued.
Evans said the pair will be released together in a much safer environment.