Durban - The last thing a Durban fisherman was expecting to spot out at sea while fishing on Glenashley Beach on Thursday was a huge Black Mamba.
But that is exactly what his bewildered eyes saw which set in motion a frantic race against time by Durban snake catcher, Jason Arnold to save the 2.3m long female Black Mamba.
This was the second Black Mamba to wash up on a Durban beach in recent months.
Recounting the drama, Arnold said that a fisherman on the beach noticed a large snake amongst the waves and watched it get washed up onto the beach.
“One of the fisherman knew of me and called me immediately. He sent me a photo and I confirmed his suspicions that it was a Black Mamba,” Arnold said.
“Whilst on my way there through heavy Verulam traffic, the person called back to tell me that a big wave broke on the shore and took the snake back out into the sea and it was now quite far out. I told them to just carry on watching until I got there,” he said.
Arnold said that by the time he arrived at the beach, the mamba had “literally just been washed up on the shore again”.
This had made his job of catching the snake quite easy as it was exhausted from all the swimming it had done.
“I remained on the beach with it and a brave young lady happily assisted me in holding the body up in the air, whilst I gently held the head facing down, allowing gravity to drain the much swallowed and inhaled water to drain out of it.
“Every time the snake exhaled, I could literally feel the vibrating of the gurgling water in its lung. And with every breath, a bit of water would drain out of the snakes mouth. Once I had drained all of the water that wanted to come out, I safely bagged the snake in a large duvet cover,” he said.
Arnold said the mamba was taken to his home and kept under observation until it can be given a clear bill of heath.
Thereafter, he planned to release it into a suitable habitat away from humans.
“I'm assuming that the snake got washed down a storm water pipe that led out directly onto that beach with the heavy downpour we had on Tuesday,” Arnold said.
He thank the fishermen who called him out and the local beach-goers who assisted him.
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