Durban – Snake catchers Sarel van der Merwe and Ivan Martin were called out by an electricity contractor to rescue a young southern African python found on a transformer in Port Shepstone, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, this week.
According to Van der Merwe, an electrical company had to fix a cable in the electricity chamber and just before they made the chamber live again, they spotted the python on the transformer.
“Because I'm a qualified electrician and know the dangers involved in an electrical chamber, I got the contractor to prove to me with his tester that the chamber was not live, and after that, I could remove the python safely,” he said.
According to Van der Merwe, these snakes are protected in southern Africa – they are listed as a vulnerable species in the latest South African Red Data Book – and may not be captured or killed.
“In South Africa it is the only one of its kind; a very large and bulky snake that cannot be easily confused with other snakes.”
He said the snake he rescued appeared to be about a year old, however, it was difficult to be certain as their sizes differed depending on the environment they were in and what they ate.
Van der Merwe said the female python was over a metre long.
“It feeds largely on warm-blooded prey like small antelope, monkeys, game birds and dassies, but also takes leguaans and even crocodiles.”