Caged with a mamba: A sweat-inducing catch

THE experienced snake catcher suffered a few chilling moments when he found himself in close quarters with the Black Mamba he was tasked to catch.

Nick Evans of KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, shared a story about a recent call-out to Scott Place, Northdene where he got more than expected.

“It’s funny, you’d think that when people have a Black Mamba on their property, they’d be freaking out when you’re talking to them on the phone,” said Evans adding that while sometimes people are panic-stricken when they phone him, at other times they are quite subdued.

“The lady who phoned me said, nervously, ‘Uh…I think we have a Black Mamba at our house’.”

In this instance, the snake was like the proverbial fox in the hen-house. “The caller had heard her chickens and dog going crazy, and that’s how she discovered it. She sent me a pic showing the snake flaring and I was on my way.”
Evans said when a snake is trapped it tries to make itself look bigger and scarier. He asked a friend to assist.
Evans often responds to snake calls only to find they have left by the time he gets to the location where they were spotted.

“When I arrived, the caller ran out her gate and said, “It’s moving!” I dropped my bucket and ran! “Please don’t be gone”, I hoped,” he said.

He saw two men standing outside a large chicken cage built against a wall. They weren’t sure exactly where the mamba had moved to, but fortunately, it was definitely still in the enclosure.”
“We established the mamba was hiding, but we didn’t know where. I opened the door of the enclosure, and nervously leaned in,” he said adding that his actions caused some unhappiness for the chickens as well as some disappointment for him.
“I looked once, couldn’t find it. I looked again. Nothing. The caller’s husband even got on the roof of the enclosure to scan from above. Still, nothing.

ALSO READ: Snake Tales: Natal Black Snake

However, Evans didn’t have to look too long. “I looked to my left, into the adjoining cage and behind a large, plastic water bowl, I spotted a coil of the mamba’s body. I learnt that the cage the mamba was now in, was occupied by a beautiful, big Green Iguana (from South America).
He was sitting on the other side of the water bowl. He looked a bit on bemused as to what was going on. I doubt the mamba would have bitten it if they bumped into each other, but I moved him out anyway,” said Evans explaining that he was more afraid of inadvertently treading on the reptile than worried for its safety from the intruding snake.

The intricate catch
Evans, after some careful clearing out of vegetation, was able to climb into the cage but now he was worried that the snake might escape the cage into the path of those who were watching while he worked on the extrication, so he asked for the door to be closed, meaning he was not in a cage with the Mamba.

“The cage was pretty small, and with a few branches still inside which were screwed in, I didn’t have much space to move at all. I couldn’t move the water bowl easily either, because it was wedged between bricks.”

Evans is the first to admit he was a little nervous in the situation he was in. “I was concerned it might burst out from hiding, in a panic. If it went left or right, it would still be right next to me, and I couldn’t go anywhere. I thought that, if that happened, I was going to keep my legs did still, only moving my arms to pin it down with the tongs.”

“I tried nudging the mamba very gently from each side of the water bowl, hoping I could get it to move out slowly. But in the space it was in, I couldn’t quite reach it. It was difficult. I had the most space on the left side, and so that’s where I continued to try and encourage it out from.”

“Eventually, the head popped up from behind the water bowl, very briefly. It looked like my plan was working. But what if one last touch caused it to panic? I held my nerve and nudged it again. It started to move more, but still slowly. Now, in the left corner, a bit of its neck was exposed. I wasted no time in grabbing it gently with the tongs and pulled it out of that enclosed space. I leaned my tongs on the water bowl, as I waited for the mamba to reverse, which it did. I reached down, and secured it with my hand, releasing the tongs when I felt I had a good enough grip. Now I could breathe!”

WATCH: Evans posted this video of the capture from footage taken by his GoPro

https://www.facebook.com/KZNHerpConservation/videos/2242730649332151/

Evans said he loves getting called out for mambas, but this situation was not one of his favourites because of the danger and complexity of the capture. “It wasn’t a very big Mamba, I’d say 1.8m maybe. But it was beautiful!” said Evans who described it as a ” Lovely little snake.”

“It looked like it had recently shed. The beautiful light grey colour, with that matt appearance, was showing nicely,” he added.

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