Three cobras shock homeowner

A snake catcher was left “speechless” after being called on to capture three cobras in three hours in a Durban garden.

Nick Evans, a snake catcher at the KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, said he captured the three Mozambique spitting cobras in Northdene last Thursday. The longest was a 1.7m male – above the average length, he said.

“One of the homeowners took me to where they had seen a snake, which was behind some pieces of wood. To all of our surprise, there was another, smaller one (of the same kind). It was coiled up behind the wood. I encouraged it out and secured it behind the head,” he said.

He captured the 1.2m female snake and went off with it, but knowing that a larger one was still around, he was alert to messages and calls on his phone.

“About two-and-a-half-hours later, a familiar number came up on my phone; it was the same man. I knew what was happening: the big one was back. I rushed over, and found the snake coiled up under some wire, about 2m from where the smaller female snake had been.

“I grabbed it behind the head and pulled it out, and I could not believe the size of it. We measured it, 1.7m, bigger than average. It turned out to be a male, who obviously came back to find the female,” he said.

Just before he was going to leave, another slithering cobra surfaced in the same yard and he had to capture that one too.

“Unbelievable,” he remarked. “I was speechless.

“It turned out to be yet another male, obviously following the scent left behind from the female. Their sense of smell is absolutely incredible,” he said.

Evans warned that this slithering species was deadly and said they were “very active” at this time of the year because the weather was warmer and there were more frogs for them to feast on.

“It will defend itself if it has to, but is usually quick to disappear. They are able to spray their venom to a distance of 2m, and bite too. A snake is best left alone,” he said.

He warned that residents should not try to handle or kill the snake and said most snake bites were as a result of humans badgering or cornering snakes.

If you come across a snake in your yard, Evans advises that you “don’t panic, keep a safe distance and call someone who knows how to handle snakes. Follow the trail and see where it goes, but don’t try to kill it because it will react and then it will try to bite you”.

He said the three snakes were returned to the wild at a nature reserve after being checked by a vet. – Daily News