Durban - A 2,1 metre black mamba was removed from a factory in Verulam on Monday afternoon.
According to Prem Balram from Reaction Unit SA when officers arrived on scene just after 11:30am they were directed to a stack of wooden pallets where a black mamba had been coiled up inside.
Durban snake catch Jason Arnold from Universal Reptiles was called out to the premises.
Arnold said Reaction Unit officers kept an eye on the snake until he arrived.
The snake was inside the wooden pallets.
Picture: Reaction Unit SA
"It was a relatively straight forward capture because the snake couldn't really go anywhere. It was right in the middle of the parking lot and was in between four pallets," said Arnold.
He said the female mamba had just consumed "a nice big meal in her stomach" and decided to sit there for about 2 or 3 days waiting for it to digest before making her way back to the bush.
He said the snake is believed to be about 2 or 3 years old.
Arnold said the black mamba had not been released into the bush because straight from there he had to catch a spitting cobra from Clare Estate.
"I now have 3 spitting cobras, 2 black mambas and a boomslang that have to be released in the next couple of days."
Last week Durban snake catcher Nick Evans rescued at least seven snakes from areas around Durban
He found two Mozambican spitting cobras and five black mambas. He said that with the hot summer temperatures, the sightings of snakes at Durban homes became more frequent.
Evans told The Mercury: “It is extremely dangerous to kill snakes such as mambas and cobras. The snakes don’t want to bite or attack, but if they are threatened and escape is not an option, they will defend themselves,” Evans warned.
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