Venomous snake found hiding in hay bale delivery

LOCAL snake catcher, Nick Evans, was called out to help retrieve a venomous snake found among a delivery of hay bales yesterday in the Upper Highway area.

Evans, founder of the KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, received a call from a pet store in the Upper Highway area that stocks animal feeds and medical and care products.

The hay bales were being delivered and, while workers were offloading the bales, a snake was discovered.

“The truck apparently came from Newcastle, so I was excited as to what it could be! While en route, I phoned my friend and fellow snake rescuer, John Chinn, to meet me on site. He lives around the corner from the premises, and it sounded like a big job,” said Evans.

John found and caught the snake and Evans said he was sad to have missed out on the action.

“I arrived to a snake pretending to be dead. A Rinkhals. Few snakes play dead, a behaviour technically known as thanatosis, but the Rinkhals is one of the best actors,” said Evans.

The snake was placed into a box and Evans took it home.

“I took it out to show my wife and it did the opposite of play dead. It raised up, spreading a cobra-like hood and spat at me. It was grumpy!” he said.

ALSO READ: SA’s most venomous snake caught in Winston Park

Evans noted that Rinkhals are not true cobras, even though they may look like one.

One of the differences is that cobras lay eggs and Rinkhals give birth to live young.

“Rinkhals are not accurate spitters either. A Mozambique Spitting Cobra will hit their target with precision, even when lying down. A Rinkhals raises up, throws itself forward and sprays it’s venom in the direction of the threat. Still, it’s not a snake to be messed with. They also have a highly venomous and potentially fatal bite,” said Evans.

He said that is was not uncommon for snakes to be found catching a ride in a car or truck.

“In the past year, my friends and I have had three calls for Rinkhals in areas they don’t occur. The most recent one was in Pietermaritzburg, where my friend Cormac Price, went to capture a Rinkhals that was hiding in the back of a truck,” he said.

Rinkhals are not found in the greater Durban area and usually occur further inland, near Nottingham Road.

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