It’s been a busy time of late for snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe, who has caught and relocated several huge black mambas.

Most recently, he caught a massive black mamba at a home at Mtwalume after a game of hide and seek.

Sarel said it easily measured more than three metres, and it was a beast!

“I started in the sitting room and then went to the kitchen, where he was hiding at the back of the freezer. Once I spotted him, I had to empty the freezer and tilt it to get to him,” said Sarel.

Last month, he received a call out for a black mamba on a property in Gcilima.

“The mamba was moving all over the property. We eventually got it, and I left a happy community behind,” said Sarel.

In between, rescuing snakes from humans (or visa versa), he assisted a Tweni farmer and his wife from the lethal venom of a Mozambique spitting cobra.

It was a close call for Tanya Nadauld, who unexpectedly got her cheek spat on by the cobra.

Tanya said that while pulling the cover off their outdoor couches, she must have woken the ‘sleeping beauty’. “It turns out she doesn’t take kindly to midday shenanigans.”

If you need a snake removed, contact Sarel on 082 6831604.

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