Durban: A black mamba was nabbed while escaping from an aviary in Verulam.
Durban snake catcher Jason Arnold said the 2.3m black mamba had just feasted on a pigeon and was attempting to exit the aviary the same way it entered.
Arnold said it was not the first time he had rescued a black mamba from the home in Buffelsdraai Road in Verulam.
The aviary is home to 15 racing pigeons.
Black mambas are common in the area.
The day before. Arnold had rescued two black mambas from their neighbour’s home.
“The people have a building company by the looks of things with a huge pile of building materials on their property, including a deserted Caravan filled with stock.
“On the first day I was called, they spotted a mamba inside a drainage pipe that was in amongst a big pile of other pipes, bricks, roof tiles etc.However I was unable to catch it to the mosquito population which was so overwhelming I was forced to abort mission.”
He said that the next day, the resident spotted the black mamba resting in a pipe.
“When I arrived, I was happy to discover that both ends of the pipe were exposed. We carefully blocked both ends of the pipe and were able to carry the pipe to a spot where doing the extraction would be safer. I extracted a… 2.4m mamba.”
But it was not over, Arnold was called back to catch another black mamba spotted in the same area.
“This was no easy feat. I spent 2 hours chasing a 2,5 metre female black mamba.
“It was extremely difficult and it kept disappearing and then resurfacing in a different spot.”
IOL