Black Mamba caught hanging out in Shongweni chicken coup
Evans noted the snake would be released after a few days of recovery.
LOCAL snake rescuer, Nick Evans retrieved a Black Mamba that was hiding in the rafters of a chicken coup at a chicken farm in Shongweni yesterday afternoon.
He received an urgent call from the small chicken farm in the Upper Highway area and was told that one of the staff members, while checking on the chickens, heard a sliding sound coming from the roof.
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“She saw a head pop out and recognised it as a Black Mamba. When I was last there I heard the rats in the roof. I think it would be impossible to not have rats. Their property is actually neat and tidy. They’re situated in the bush and have chickens. Chicken feed attracts rats and the roof is a nice place for them to breed. This, of course, will attract mambas,” said Evans.
When he arrived at the scene he noticed the snake was hanging from some material in the roof.
With his ladder in tow, he nervously climbed up and noticed it was the tail end of the snake hanging from the rafters.
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“Not ideal. I very rarely use two tongs but, on this occasion, I decided it could be the safer bet. I wanted to pull the tail out but had no idea where the head was. I grabbed the tail with one tong and the head popped out. If I was holding the tail with my hand, my hand was now well within striking range,” he said.
When more of the deadly snake’s body was exposed he quickly grabbed it with the second pair of tongs.
When the mamba was eventually secure he noted the snake was too hot and thought it may die from a heat stroke.
“This poor snake was cooking in the roof! It was weak and didn’t put up much of a fight,” he said.
He climbed back into his car and blasted the air-conditioner to help cool down the reptile. He noted it would be released after a few days of recovery.
For snake removals, contact Nick Evans on 072 809 5806 or email nickevanskzn@gmail.com.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
