Durban - A woman nearly fainted on the kitchen floor after a snake took refuge in the sink while she was washing the dishes in her Umzinto home, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
According to the Crocworld Conservation Centre reptile curator, Wade Kilian, the 1.7m green mamba was found lurking in the kitchen by an elderly resident from Sezela who immediately alerted her son.
“I received a phone call from a young man out in Sezela reporting about a large snake that had been discovered in the kitchen. Apparently his mother had been packing away dishes before doing another load when she spotted the snake climbing the curtain rail. It then took refuge in the kitchen sink beneath a pink bucket, which is where we discovered it,” said Kilian.
Kilian said he arrived to find a very nervous, machete-wielding elderly woman shouting.
Fortunately, the woman’s son had alerted the reptile team in time and she had not attempted to kill the snake herself.
“We really encourage residents not to approach or attempt to kill any snake species, but rather to contact us to safely remove the animal. Not only are some of these species threatened and, therefore, protected by law, but most snake attacks happen when humans try to move or kill them,” continued Kilian.
The snake had been smoothly removed from the kitchen, and it was safely released into a wildlife habitat away from humans.
Fast facts about green mambas
- Green mambas are carnivores and will eat eggs, birds, frogs, lizards, rodents, and other small mammals.
- Green mambas are mostly solitary but are not known to be territorial.
- Green mambas prefer coastal areas with dense, shaded vegetation (like the KZN South Coast) and tend to live in trees.
- Female green mambas will lay 4 to 17 eggs at a time that hatch after about three months.
- Green mambas can live for up to 14 years.
- Green mambas have short, fixed fangs at the front of their mouths and are highly venomous.
- Source: www.pretoriazoo.org
The Independent on Saturday