Black mamba kills four dogs

A snake catcher, Jason Arnold, said: “The family were alerted by the dogs barking frantically at a drain at the bottom of the driveway on Saturday. The homeowner went to investigate and after seeing nothing, he shrugged it off as probably just being a rat.”

Arnold said the large black mamba had disappeared into the drain to safety after being noticed by the resident’s dogs, Rising Sun Overport reported.

“The snake must have exited and tried to make its getaway, but the dogs, being the hunting species that they are, were obviously keeping a close eye on the drain. The dogs charged and attacked the snake which tried to get up into the undercarriage of a bakkie parked nearby, but the dogs were too quick,” he added.

There was a huge scuffle between the dogs and the snake under the bakkie. The snake managed to slither off, however, and the homeowner started to notice that his dogs were not looking well.

Arnold was immediately contacted but by the time he arrived, the dogs had died.

“At that stage, the dogs had already succumbed to the extremely fast acting neurotoxic (nerve attacking) envenomation. The homeowner pointed out the pile of household items where the snake had taken refuge behind. I slowly and carefully started removing items from the pile and soon enough found the snake. It was so badly hurt and exhausted. It just lay there and made absolutely no attempt to try get away or defend itself further,” he said.

The snake, which was severely bitten all over its body, died two days later due to internal injuries.

Arnold, who is an animal lover, said it was a traumatic moment for the family and also for him.

Speaking about black mambas, Arnold said the snakes are commonly found in areas such as Reservoir Hills.

“They habitat in areas where there is natural bush. However, it is not normal for them to be found in homes, but it does happen if they are cruising in the yard and a dog charges at it or a person walks by, forcing it to enter a house. But in most cases, they are just trying to get out of the heat,” he added.

– Caxton News Service