Resident Cynthia Ryan says she had the shock of her life when she discovered an enormous rinkhals on her property last week.
The serpent (also known as a ring-necked spitting cobra) was seemingly sunbathing in Ryan’s driveway.
“It’s the last thing you expect to find on your doorstep,” Ryan said. “I came out to my car, realised something was off and then I literally froze when I saw this gigantic snake.
“I just stared at it, and it stared back at me. I didn’t know what to do. I was in complete shock.”
Fortunately, neither Cynthia, nor her scaly guest were harmed in the encounter. Ryan says she backed up slowly and went back into her home, and then called her neighbours.
John Wright and Ally Clayton were also flabbergasted when they saw the unexpected visitor. “It was huge,” Clayton said.
“We all panicked together. We were quite determined to save it humanely though.”
Clayton and Wright lodged a call for help on ‘the Snakes of South Africa’ Facebook-page and promptly called in local snake-catcher Jason Peter Mullins. The reptile was neatly captured a few hours later.
“We live very close to the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve, and the rinkhals probably found it’s way to Cynthia from there,” Clayton explained.
The rinkhals is a close relative of the cobra, and its venom can be potentially lethal, but it is not known to be an aggressive snake. According to Friends of Melville Koppies, a rinkhals was released into the nearby reserve about six years ago. Melville Koppies is also home to a variety of other snakes.
Recent media reports of snakes in the suburbs include a brave Jack Russell terrier that died in a bid to protect its pregnant owner and her two-year-old daughter from a Cape cobra in Petrusburg, Free State. In Cape Town, a bull terrier finished off a cobra that found its way into its owner’s garage.
Several cases of snakes slithering into people’s homes recently might sound alarming, but reptile expert Professor Graham Alexander says there’s no cause for panic.
“Snakes are not settling in the suburbs,” Prof Alexander, a herpetologist at Wits University said. “They become more active and come out of hiding this time of year in the rainy season. This is also when most snakebite cases occur.
“If you do find a snake in your house or garden, don’t try to kill or catch it. Unless you are an expert, leave the snake alone and call the experts because the majority of people get bitten by snakes when they try to catch or kill it.”
