Black mamba rescued after feasting on feral kittens in Shallcross, Durban
A black mamba devoured two feral kittens from a litter in Shallcross, Durban.
Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans said he and veterinarian Dr Carla Goede had a busy afternoon in Shallcross on Monday.
The first call was the black mamba eating feral kittens. The snake ate two out of four of a litter born on Monday.
“Some of you may think it’s a cruel or evil snake for eating a precious kitten. But this is nature trying to survive and adapt to human development. For a mamba, day-old kittens are extremely easy to catch, compared to fast-moving dassies and rats,” explained Evans.
“Durban has a lot of feral cats, giving birth to kittens. So we get a few calls like this.”
Evans said he was told the mamba went under an old caravan. He said he searched thoroughly but it was not there.
He and Goede cleared out the caravan which was used for storage.
He said it was about 31 or 32 degrees Celsius outside, but it was much hotter in that caravan.
“Eventually, we concluded it wasn’t in the caravan,” Evans said.
He said that when they were about to give up, he took one last look under the caravan.
“There was the mamba, in an inaccessible corner. We suspect that it was in the caravan, then moved out while we were in. Well, it soon moved back into the caravan,” Evans said.
“It was a bit of a nervy capture, due to the confined space, but I managed to secure it. It’s an absolute beast of a mamba!”
Evans said he had yet to measure the snake because he wanted to give it time to digest its meal.
“I’d say it’s 2.6 to 2.7m. An old-looking animal too, but in prime condition,” Evans said.
The homeowners treated them to chocolate ice cream after the rescue, which was amazing, Evans said.
When they headed home, they had to return to Shallcross to a construction site along the Umhlatuzana River after a green mamba was seen and photographed entering a car engine.
“Snakes in engines can be a nightmare, but this was a quick and easy catch for Carla,” Evans said.
Meanwhile, South Coast snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe and Brian Brittion went to Mehlomnyama, St Faith’s for a black mamba in a chicken pen.
Van der Merwe said he received a call for a black mamba on a huge property. A black mamba was seen inside a redundant chicken pen.
“The chicken pen had no chickens. Just chicken food and lots of rats,” Van der Merwe said.
“The snake made himself small in one of the feeders and I found him in the last place I looked. He was in the feeder.”
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za