DURBAN -- As families enjoy summer, many opt to braai rather than slaving over a hot stove in the kitchen but be warned, check your braai stand carefully before lighting up, there might just be a black mamba inside.
Snake expert Nick Evans was called out on what he described as an interesting case in the Westville North area on Wednesday night.
“The homeowner was walking in his garden, turned a corner, near where the gas braai is, and bumped into this black mamba, relaxing on the braai. The snake got as much of a fright as he did and dashed inside,” he said.
Evans reiterated that it was normal for the snake to flee rather than fight.
“Imagine he didn't know it was in there? Gosh, he'd have gotten a much bigger fright! I suppose it's a very safe shelter, unless turned on,” he said.
He said the 2 metre black mamba turned out to be a quick and easy catch.
Wrapping up a year of interesting mamba rescues, Evans said he had 30 calls in December and 21 captures.
“In 2021, I personally captured a little more than 100, which has been fantastic for my research. There are of course other snake catchers who caught a number as well.Those sorts of figures may terrify you,” he said.
Evans said while networking with doctors at different hospitals or other snake-removers, he recorded a total of two confirmed black mamba bites.
He said out of an approximate eThekwini Municipality population of 3.5 million people there were an estimated two bites reported.
“One bite was a real freak accident. A juvenile mamba crawled into a gumboot, and the inevitable happened. The second was this month, where a man was trying to beat a mamba to death,” he said, adding that both people survived.
Attacking a black mamba is a bad idea explained Evans as this reaction does not give the snake the option to flee.
“This shows us black mambas aren't evil, killing machines, killing people on a daily basis. It also shows your chance of surviving a black mamba bite in this area is very high,” he said.
He said recent black mamba cases showed that the snake’s immediate reaction was to try to get away or hide.
“Should one encounter a black mamba ... just move away from it slowly. Should you want it removed, which I'd imagine would be the general consensus, phone a snake remover. Do not try to kill it or capture it. That's when you end up in hospital,” warned Evans.
THE MERCURY