Durban snake catcher Nick Evans said that he has had a lot of people tell him that back in the day police were called to come and shoot mambas.
Evans shared this after he was called by police about a black mamba that was seen crossing a road near the airport.
He said this when sharing about his very busy Sunday, but the day did not start that well.
Evans said that a black mamba was seen crossing a road near the airport. Some policemen, who were driving past, pulled over and watched where the snake went. It moved into a culvert on the side of the road, but it was not getting out.
“I was sure it had been clipped by a car. In the video they sent to me, it looked okay, just moving a bit slowly. But a healthy, unharmed mamba should have been long gone,” Evans said.
He said that according to the officers, they had been watching the snake for a few minutes and it had not gone anywhere so he told them he would come to take a look and they promised to watch over the snake.
“Unfortunately, it died while I made my way there. It had been hit on the head by a passing car,” Evans said.
“The policemen were shocked and disappointed. They really seemed to care. I was so impressed with their positive attitude, despite the sad outcome.
“They also seemed to think I was mad for working with venomous snakes, but I reminded them which of us was dealing with the more dangerous creatures,” Evans said.
He also said that he was grateful the officers took the time to ensure no one else harmed it as he made his way there and that they called him.
Evans said it was always encouraging to see people care about snake welfare.
“The 2.3m female mamba will be handed over to a researcher for an interesting study we’re working on. So her death wasn’t a total waste,” Evans said.
“I’ve had many people tell me that back in the day, police were called to come and shoot mambas (not something I'm sure they enjoyed, and not something without risk). There weren’t as many snake-catchers as there are now, and people didn’t seem to know what else to do,” he said.
“Now we’re often called by the police to help.”
Evans added that it was nice how things have changed.
“We even have policemen who catch snakes.”
Daily News
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