A snake was spotted in a property in Sharonlea before it went missing, and this has caused concern among residents.
However, there is no need for panic, said Greater Sharonlea Residents Forum chairperson, JC Wouters.
He said he and the snake catchers the forum has contacted, have been on top of the situation for a few days. They are working with residents to catch the snake, and are doing their best, though it will take some time.
“Nobody has a got picture of it and nobody has been up close to confirm the width and size of it,” Wouters said.
“We’ve had one snake catcher who says it could be 3m long due to the 18cm width trail, but snakes do not always move in a straight line. The larger snakes might but the smaller snakes could end up making just as wide a [trail] width if it were to slither, according to another snake catcher.”
Some have said the snake could be a boa constrictor, while it may even turn out to just be a harmless brown house snake, Wouters said.
Certified snake catcher, Brett Holding, told Randburg Sun that reports indicated it is a large snake and possibly a South African python, “as they are the only indigenous constrictors normally found in the area”.
He said it may also be a pet snake that escaped its enclosure nearby.
Nevertheless, he said residents should not be worried as snakes are reclusive.
The owner of the property where the snake was last seen, believes it killed her cat because the cat went missing and remains were found in a neighbour’s yard.
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“I saw the snake at night, at first irritated that some or other piece of piping or something similar was left lying around,” said the resident who did not wish to be named.
” [I] did not make the association until the next day. The snake appeared to be quite light, definitely not brown or black. Saw it in the moonlight and saw the trails in multiple places. My rooster had been crowing at night for the last few weeks but had been fairly quiet for the past three nights.”
Wouters and snake catchers combed the garden on the evening of October 9, the day the snake was last seen, and isolated two areas where the snake could be hiding, if it is still there: In a shed or around a lily pond on the property.
“The other thing is snakes are going to want to hide,” he added.
“They are not looking for people… they just want to be left alone. They are probably doing the community a favour by catching small rats and rodents. But I understand there is a fear behind this.”
He stressed the situation should not be blown out of proportion, for the above reasons.
Most dangerous snakes, how to identify them and what to do
Holding, who is chairperson of the Community Security Emergency Response Team (CSERT), said a non-profit organisation is often called out to remove snakes.
He said African Snakebite Institute has an abundance of resources on its website on snakes in South Africa, and there is also a downloadable app that includes first aid information, snake identification features, free snake posters, and more.
An enormous database of snake catchers, with their contact information, can be found here.
The group encourages residents to contact a snake catcher to remove a snake instead of trying to do so themselves.
According to the website, only 11% of the 173 species of snakes in southern Africa can be considered deadly and these include mambas, cobras, rinkhals, puff adder, gaboon adder, boomslang and the twig snake.
The Mozambique spitting cobra accounts for the vast majority of serious bites, followed by the puff adder, and then the stiletto snake and rhombic night adder. Most of the deaths resulting from snakebites in southern Africa are a result of Cape cobra and black mamba bites.
The Cape cobra varies in colour from nearly black to dark or light brown, beige, yellow or speckled while juveniles have a dark band on the throat.
The black mamba is the largest venomous snake in Africa with a maximum length of 4.5 m. It is shy and reclusive but lashes out if it feels cornered.
The vast majority of snakebite victims who are hospitalised soon after a bite will survive. No more than 15% of snakebite victims will require antivenom.
“If the snake is spotted, then a snake rescuer should be contacted immediately to help with the safe removal (snake rescuer contact info is available on the ASI app),” Holding said.
“The community should be reminded that snakes are normally reclusive and do not attack unless they feel threatened, so keeping clear of them is the best strategy for preventing a bite.”
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