Black Mamba pair caught lounging in Inanda roof

NICK Evans, a local snake expert, was called out at night to retrieve two Black Mambas spotted in a house in the Inanda area recently.

Evans, along with his wife, Joelle, answered the call for help. When he arrived at the scene, he was told both Black Mambas were in the roof, tucked in a space between the tin sheeting at the top of the walls.

“We saw a head poking out in that gap above the wall, but it soon disappeared. So began a frustrating, hour-and-a-half long game of cat and mouse,” said Evans.

In his haste, Evans admitted to leaving behind his ladder and made do with what was on site: an old box, beds, a cabinet and buckets.

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“The mamba was moving on top of the walls. We’d lose track of it. We were using an iron spear to bang the tin sheeting and try to lift it in parts. Sometimes successful in locating the snake, mostly not,” said a frustrated Evans.

With eyes and ears in every room of the house, as well as on the outside of the building, the snake was soon spotted once again.

“A coil of the body was sticking out. I managed to hook it, then get my tong on it! The neck then popped out, and I grabbed that. It’s tail was wrapped around something on the wall, and it was trying to pull back,” said Evans.

Joelle was handed a second set of African Snakebite Institute tongs and grabbed the mamba half way down its body. When Nick felt the second tong grab hold, he was able to secure the snake. It measured in at just more than 1.5m in length.

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Evans then poked a hook stick into one section in the roofing and was greeted by a gaping Black Mamba.

“After chasing it along the walls again, this mamba thought it would try something it’s mate didn’t-go onto the roof,” he said.

By reversing his car up against the Inanda home, Evans turned his vehicle into a makeshift ladder. He spotted the Black Mamba poking its head through a rusted hole in the sheeting. Using an ASI hook, Evans lifted the corrugated iron and grabbed the reptile with his tong. Once it was secured, it was placed in a bucket.

“I’ve never caught two small mambas hiding out together like this, so that was interesting,” he said.

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