A NEW record was reached on Saturday by Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans after he caught his fourth black mamba in Inanda in the span of a week.
Evans was with Dr Cormac Price and Craig Cordier when he received a call from a man whose son had discovered the mamba at home.
Evans said a young man spotted the mamba enter the front door just as he walked out of his room and into the lounge.
The snake quickly moved across the lounge floor and under the television cabinet for shelter.
Evans collected the young man’s father at his place of work in Everton, who directed him to the property in the Maphephetheni area.
Upon arrival, they discovered that the front door was left open by the son, however, he had been monitoring the snake from the window.
Evans said when he walked into the house he was hit with the smell of Jeyes Fluid.
He said he got a big fright when something unexpected jumped past his face while bending down to look for the mamba under the TV cabinet.
“The young man's identification of the snake was spot on, it was most certainly a black mamba. Quite a big one too ... As we were looking under the cabinet, a flipping toad hopped out, right by my face,” he said.
He said he pinned the snake down quickly.
“It was soaked in Jeyes Fluid, but encouragingly, still strong. I rushed it to an outside tap, and we gave it a good rinse with water. Later, at home, I rinsed it off with Sunlight,”said Evans.
Evans appealed to the public not to use Jeyes Fluid on animals.
“Jeyes Fluid is a toxic chemical not meant for animals. It's useless as a repellent. It doesn't chase snakes away either. However, if poured on snakes, the snakes suffer a slow death, as they suffocate. Please do not use it for snakes or any animal,” he said.
Evans added that while he does get a few mambas from Inanda a year, he has never had more than one in a week.
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