Durban – South Coast snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe says that a pile of planks is a good place for snakes.
Van der Merwe was speaking after removing a puff adder from a pile of planks in Port Edward.
Van der Merwe said that on the premises, it’s a big plot with a number of houses and cottages.
“I’d already caught boomslang, green mambas and now a puff adder,” Van der Merwe said.
“People keep planks and pile them up and that’s a good place for snakes,” Van der Merwe said.
He said that one of the tenants was moving some of the planks when he spotted the puff adder and Van der Merwe was called to remove the snake.
Van der Merwe said that he did not like using a grab stick (tongs) on a puff adder but he had no choice but to use it because with a hook stick, the snake would have gone under a storeroom, and if it got underneath, he would never have been able to remove the snake.
“So I had to use a grab stick to just grab him and put him in a bucket,” Van der Merwe said.
He said that puff adders’ venom is potently cytotoxic, causing severe pain, swelling, blistering and in many cases severe tissue damage.
He added that all reptiles produce eggs and whilst the puff adder does ‘give birth’ to living snakes, the process is deceptive. The eggs are in fact produced, but these eggs are carried within the mother during incubation and the young snakes hatch from the eggs before they emerge from her.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
