This venomous rinkhals was found in one of the kennels at the Brakpan SPCA.
A venomous snake tried to put himself up for adoption when he slithered into the kennels at the Brakpan SPCA, on Sunday, December 6
The rinkhals (spitting cobra) was safely removed by handlers from the African Snakebite Institute.
Brakpan resident and snake expert Shawn Hefer, who is an assistant at the institute, told the Herald he received a call about the snake just after 1pm.
“The snake was already inside one of the kennels, standing threateningly between John Ragophala (an SPCA employee) and a puppy,” said Hefer.
“Poor John had his hands full trying to prevent the puppy from being spat at in the eyes, or possibly even bitten.
“Upon our arrival, I had to climb over the gate, as John was preoccupied doing a sterling job keeping the puppy from running past the clearly agitated snake, which was not happy at being trapped between two possible threats with no chance of escape.”
Hefer went into the kennel and sat down with the puppy, keeping him out of harm’s way.
“John could, at first, not understand why I moved past the snake without doing anything whatsoever, but he understood once I explained what was about to happen and asked him to let Conrad Prinsloo, Henk Prinsloo, Zander Prinsloo and Barend Botha in,” he said.
“Jonathan Cunha was out with us for the day, as he had successfully completed a snake handling course with African Snakebite Institute some time ago, but had not had the opportunity to do any practical work to gain experience since then.
“It was decided that this would be Jonathan’s first capture.
The snake was captured by Brakpan resident Jonathan Cunha. The rinkhals was examined for injuries and parasites before being released in a suitable area.
“This rinkhals really did not make capturing and removing it easy for a well composed, but clearly nervous Jonathan.
“Jonathan, however, kept his cool, listened well to all the prompts from the more experienced handlers present and managed to bag, or rather tube, his first snake on a call-out.”
Another rinkhals was removed by Cunha, also a Brakpan resident, later that day from a residence in Dalpark Extension Six.
Both snakes were examined for injuries and parasites before being released in a suitable location.
The African Snakebite Institute is hard at work raising awareness about snakes in the Brakpan, Springs, Benoni and Boksburg areas.
Anyone interested in learning more about snakes can email Shawn at shawn@africansnakebiteinstitute.com.
