[imagesource:here]
I love snakes, but if I found a Mozambique spitting cobra in my home, I’d be dialling the number of the nearest snake handler in record time.
In Durban, that usually means you’re ringing Nick Evans, a well-known snake handler and removal specialist in the area.
A video featuring Evans went viral in September, after he could be heard imploring his fellow handlers to prevent a 3,5 metre, 25-kilogram Southern African Python from pooing on him.
Nobody said it was glamourous work.
After being called to a home in Pinetown, Durban, Evans and fellow snake handler Duncan Slabbert were shocked to find not one, but three spitting cobras.
He spoke with News24 about how unusual this is, even in his line of work:
“I’ve never seen three cobras together before. It was crazy,” Evans [said].
Two of the reptiles were male and bloodstained.
Evans said it was likely they had been fighting over the female.
Lovely – three cobras to catch and two of them are hopped up males.
Here’s footage showing how Evans and Slabbert did the deed:
Nobody was spat at this time, but in the past Evans has been hit with airborne venom, describing it as “a bit like beach sand mixed with soap”, adding that it “really burns”.
The African Snakebite Institute keeps a list of snake removers in areas across the country, with the same information, as well as detailed descriptions of each snake species found in the region, available on the free app.
If you find a snake on your property, and you’re unsure what species it is, the safest thing to do is to contact a professional.
[source:news24]
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