Nick Evans shares his exciting Black Mambas removal day

HIGHWAY snake catcher, Nick Evans had an interesting Saturday as his day started with a Black Mamba rescue, and ended with one.

The first mamba, a 2.4m male was caught in Westville.

“The mamba was draped over a pile of garden refuse, but went down into it just as I arrived. It was a massive garden refuse pile, so I wasn’t keen to go through it. But the mamba appeared, and I managed to grab it,” said Evans.

ALSO READ: Nick Evans rescues another black mamba hiding in a vehicle

In the afternoon a family in Mawotana, near Phoenix, spotted a Black Mamba near their car port.

“The snake fled around the house, and took cover under a paved walkway when it saw the homeowners,” said the snake catcher.

Evans said he suspected that the snake got washed down the river and displaced, in the floods.

“It is very likely that there was a high rat population there. It took a while before I eventually got a brief visual of it. It was deep in under the walkway. I had to stand and kneel in the culvert to look under, which I wasn’t chuffed about. But this is usually dirty work,” he said.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Westville injured Black Mamba recovering

Eventually, Evans managed to ‘irritate’ or coax the mamba enough to come out a bit, by gently poking it with his hook.

“Three men, including the homeowner, were trying to coax it out with a sledgehammer. Once the tongs clamped down, it shot out! It was furious, and understandably so. I managed to pin it down though, without much hassle,” he said

“The crowd were super excited about it. Some of them conquered their fears and touched it. Such a nice community. Really. I hope they learnt a thing or two about snakes,” said the impressed Evans.

He thanked the relative of the family who called, and to the homeowner who drove far out to meet him, led him in, and led him out safely.

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

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