HOW scary is it to find a green mamba at your door?
What about two of them? Or even three!
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That was the creepy reality shortly before noon last Wednesday for a family living in a Veldenvlei residential complex.
‘My helper was cleaning the patio and lifted up the high pressure cleaner,’ said resident Lyn Govender.
‘As she lifted it up she threw it down again when she noticed two snakes on it.
‘She screamed for my son who was home ill and he ran over to Terrence Marran, the caretaker of the complex, who then called snake catcher Peter Daniel.
‘In the meantime, while waiting for Peter, the snakes were already at the sliding doors trying to get in.
‘Terrence managed to take a photo and between him and my hubby they identified them as green mambas, which was confirmed by Peter when he arrived.’
Lyn says that while her son and helper were hysterical, she had remained quite calm.
Peter duly caught the snakes for safe release in a better environment but just over an hour after he left, a third green mamba appeared and Peter was called back to the scene for round two of the capture saga.
‘My son had gone downstairs to take his meds and saw one again trying to get in through the sliding doors,’ said Lyn.
‘Peter had a long look round but didn’t find any more, although they could still be close by.
‘My hubby and I are not scared as we often catch non-venomous snakes but others in the complex are a bit nervous.’
Although the snakes were about 30cm long, they were probably no more than two weeks old and had likely been hatched from a clutch of eggs left in a nearby hole or tree stump.
Peter warned that baby green mambas are extremely poisonous and can easily be mistaken for harmless bush snakes.
‘The bottom line is: if you don’t know what it is, don’t handle it – rather call a snake catcher,’ he said.
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