Picture: Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer/Facebook
While taking a lunch break at work is rarely an occasion worth talking about, a gardener in Westville North, KwaZulu-Natal, will definitely be talking about his Tuesday’s lunch break for the next few days after being joined by an unusual guest in his room.
According to snake rescuer Nick Evans, the man was sitting in his room, having lunch, when he was joined by a mamba.
In panic, the man quickly escaped the room through a window, closed it and went around to close the door, to trap the mamba inside the room.
“Not many people would have the presence of mind to do that. It was a good thing he did, because when I walked in, the mamba was on the window, trying to get out,” shared Evans on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
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“This one was a big snake, but small mamba, around 1.8m. Ones this size are fast, and arguably a bit more skittish than the larger ones. It dashed down to the floor, going from side to side, before I grabbed it.”
On the same day, Evans was called to a home in Savannah Park, where a man had opened his shed, only to find a black mamba curled up, having an afternoon nap.
“When I arrived, and he opened, it was still there, but quickly dashed behind some boxes. Fortunately, there wasn’t an awful lot in there for it to hide behind,” said Evans.
“However, while moving the boxes, the mamba must have gotten a fright, and at the last second, I noticed it was dashing in a direction a bit too close for comfort – headed for a large sack next to me, and I could only see the tail, meaning the head had already passed me.”
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This time, he was the one who quickly ran out of the shed.
“It wasn’t an attack. If it was, it would have bitten me. It was just panicked, desperate to hide. I went back in, after scanning around, lifted the large sack, and found it hiding under there, where I caught it.”
The mamba was 2.1m in length, “but a chunky specimen”, said Evans