Scottburgh’s Crocworld Conservation Centre has for a long time been offering a free service to identify and remove snakes from local communities and has recently encountered two mambas in the area.
Busani Mthiyane, Crocworld’s animal curator, said that while most snakes become less active at this time of year, mambas are a bit different.
“Mambas tend to remain active now as their mating season is autumn and early winter, which many people don’t realise,” he said.
Last Friday, a man (30) was bitten by a black mamba. Glen Preston of Med-Evac said the man was bitten on his ring finger by the mamba while working on a cane farm near Hibberdene.
“Paramedics transported the man in a stable condition to Shelly Beach Hospital where he was treated with anti-venom,” said Preston.
The centre’s snake rescue team did their share for the community by removing and relocating two other mambas that were close to people – one at a house and one at a water pump station.
The team was first called out to Amandawe by a family claiming that a green mamba was on the roof of their house.
“On our way to the home, we agreed it was more likely to be a spotted bush snake, but during our search of the roof, we found the shed [skin] of a black mamba instead,” said Mthiyane.
He added rat droppings were present, which indicated that the mamba had been up there feeding on rats.
“As we continued searching the roof, we saw something big move.”
This is when the black mamba made an appearance, and the snake rescue team was able to safely remove and relocate it away from human settlements.
“The family and community were very happy about this,” said Mthiyane.
And even though this wasn’t the green mamba they were initially called for, the team did get to encounter an actual green mamba at the Roseneath water pump station earlier in April.
At the time, the team received a call from a security guard who said he spotted a huge green snake.
“We attended the call out and after a few moments of searching, discovered a male green mamba hiding behind one of the big water pipes. We also managed to safely relocate it,” said Mthiyane.
The public is reminded of the snake removal services offered to areas such as Scottburgh, Umkomaas, Pennington and Park Rynie, and residents are urged to contact professionals should they need a snake removed.
Contact Crocworld Conservation Centre on 039 9761103.
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