Where did this happen?
Inanda, again. This wild and rugged terrain, with many homes scattered among it, means human/snake conflict is inevitable and regular.
What happened?
An old, wrecked car was parked outside the home. At about 9am on Tuesday morning some young men, who live at the property, opened the car to look for a spanner when, to their horror, they bumped into a large Black Mamba inside.
Terrified and not knowing what to do, they attempted to kill it. They got a hold of what was described as a spear to me, and thrust it through the open window, stabbing the snake multiple times.
It then crawled into the dashboard to hide, and they closed the car doors not knowing what to do next.
They burnt tyres around the car, hoping the smoke would chase the snake out.
Hours passed, and they saw it on the passenger seat later in the afternoon.
The way in which they got my number was incredible. One of the homeowners there had to leave to go to work, but on his way, stopped at the bank.
He was explaining what was happening at home to the teller, when another teller walked up to him. This good man had overheard the conversation, gave the frightened man my number, and told him to call me.
A stroke of luck. I was called just after 3pm.
How did you get it out of there?
When I opened the car door, I was hit by the most incredible heat wave. That car had been baking in the sun the entire day. I told those in attendance that this mamba was either dead, or had found a way out.
I searched the interior of the car thoroughly, and checked the engine compartment. I tried checking the dashboard, but couldn’t see or hear anything. Just as I was ready to give up, I heard the familiar sound of a mamba moving. It was in the dashboard, behind the cubbyhole.
This dashboard was held together by a few screws, but frustratingly, bolts as well.
With no spanners, we tried ripping out the cubbyhole. Failing that, we tried undoing the bolts with a set of pliers, which worked, slowly.
When we eventually had the cubbyhole loose and out.
Sure enough, the mamba was hiding behind it. I could just see the mamba body curled up, and when it started to move. I just grabbed it with the tongs and noticed it was injured.
When I lifted the snake out of the car, I got a better look at its injuries, and I was well and truly horrified. They were gruesome. There were some small punctures, but there were also two large gaping wounds on its belly.
I had never seen such horrid injuries on a snake before. I couldn’t believe the snake was still alive, especially after cooking in the car. Admittedly, I thought it was doomed.
The snake has since undegone surgery and Evans announced on Facebook that the snake is making a full recovery!
“This mamba really has the most incredible fighting spirit!” he said.
