Rinkhals slithers in ahead of Bike Fest on the South Coast

As “snake season” starts to slow down for Sarel van der Merwe, the South Coast’s famous snake catcher, the South Coast Herald touched base with him regarding some of his crazy rescues over the last few weeks.

Nothing too exciting has happened over the last week or three, said Sarel, but added that we did have a “snake eating a crocodile”.

Sarel laughed. “Calm down, it’s only ‘Crockie’ and ‘Snakie’, our soft toys which we use to educate the schoolchildren who visit Pure Venom Reptile Park.”

But, on average, Sarel has had some rather interesting days rescuing reptiles during the last month.

He rescued a rinkhals or ring-necked spitting cobra from a holiday complex in Margate. The cobra, which can spray its venom up to 2.5 metres, is not commonly found in the area and Sarel seemed to think it hitched a ride with holidaymakers. Sarel spent hours searching a retainer wall at the complex in his hunt for the snake.

“I was looking for a night adder, so I got bit of surprise when I saw the stripes”, said Sarel.

 It’s been a bit of mamba madness for Sarel. He came to the rescue of Umzumbe resident, Kaye Whitwam when a green mamba wanted to share her bedroom for the night and a fourth green mamba measuring two metres was recovered from the famous ‘snake pit’ room in Merlewood.

Then, another ‘big boy’ from a yard in Port Shepstone, one from a chicken pen at Mac Banana, from a garage in Palm Beach and another from the women’s toilets in Marina Beach.

* He saved the life of a red-lipped Herald that got stuck in a sewage tank at the Southcoast Mall.

A last tip from the man himself: Don’t stack items such as bags into storerooms or sheds, making ideal hibernating places for snakes. “In the past I have nabbed a few black mambas during winter.

So perhaps it won’t be the last we hear from Sarel, until next snake season.

– Caxton News Service