3m python found lounging on curtain rail
Highway snake catcher Nick Evans commends the community for not killing the huge python found in a room.
LOCAL snake catcher Nick Evans caught a 3m Southern African Python in the Inanda Valley recently. Evans took to his Facebook page, saying that, a few weeks ago, he was called to a business premises in the area because of a python found in a room.
“My friends, Duncan and Jade Slabbert, kindly fetched me, and the three of us made the drive out, with the promise that the snake was locked in the room with no escape.
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“It was a scenic drive to the premises, but the sight that greeted us was quite spectacular: a 3m Southern African Python relaxing on a curtain rail!
“How did it get in?
“Well, we later learned that the security guard saw it outside the room next door, on the same verandah. Using a bin, he coaxed it into this unoccupied, empty room and locked it in for us – unusual but brave – not that we recommend people interfere with pythons.
“The three of us worked together at first, securing the head, then untangling it off the buckling curtain rail, which wasn’t all that easy as these snakes are pure muscle. We eventually managed.
“I was amazed it got up there, but they are good climbers.
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“The python was unharmed and in good condition. It was later released in a natural area away from people,” read the post.
In the post, Evans also commended the community for alerting him instead of killing the snake. He said he had done an awareness talk in the area sometime back, so they knew not to kill it.
“FYI: The Southern African Python is a protected species. It is illegal to kill, keep or sell them,” he wrote.
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