Mixed bag of snakes for Sarel
Although there is no anti-venom for this particular snake bite, bites can be treated in hospital.
Snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe has had a busy time rescuing snakes – green and black mambas, and even a vine snake and a puff adder.
In one day during December, he caught two green mambas from a bird cage in Uvongo and one black mamba from a drain in Mvutshini, inland from Margate.
He also removed a juvenile green mamba from a tree in a holiday resort in Trafalgar.
“It was getting dark and the homeowners got me a ladder so I could get to it quickly and remove it. They were happy that I was able to remove it from their home,” he added.
He also removed a very well camouflaged twig/vine snake in a garden at a retirement village in Anerley.
Van der Merwe said this snake has a very slow acting, but potent hemotoxin, which as it sounds affects your blood, slowly destroying red blood cells and disrupting the blood’s ability to clot.
Although there is no anti-venom for this particular snake bite, bites can be treated in hospital.
This species is also rear fanged and does not have a good venom delivery system, so would need to literally chew on you to get venom into your blood stream.
Van der Merwe explained that the twig/vine snake is also a very shy and peaceful species and will only strike as a last resort.
“If threatened it will first inflate its neck, then hiss loudly and possibly open its mouth for further effect, to scare off potential predators. Only after exhausting all these defensive techniques will it resort to striking,” he explained.
About mid-December he had a call out for a puff adder in Gcilima, inland from Southbroom.
The snake was hiding between the rubble, in an outdoor tent.
Van der Merwe warned homeowners not to horde rubble as it will become a haven for rats and snakes.
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