Durban — A black snake a gardener saved seeing in a shed turned out to be a black mamba that later nestled in a leaf blower.
Sharing particulars concerning the incident on Thursday, Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans stated it was his first time catching a snake in a leaf blower.
He stated that for some time, a gardener in Dawncliffe, Westville, saved seeing a black snake in a shed when he opened it.
Evans stated that on Monday morning, he searched the shed, which was neat and didn’t have many hiding locations for a snake.
“I searched everywhere I thought a snake could hide. I had a brief look in the leaf blower but foolishly didn’t look all the way in,” Evans stated.
He stated that within the afternoon, the house owner opened the shed and located the snake and what he described gave the impression of a black mamba.
Evans stated: “I entered the shed, but couldn’t see the snake, or hear any movement. I checked everywhere. The last remaining place it could be was in the leaf blower, which was on the top shelf.”
“I lifted the leaf blower. I’ve never used one and never needed one, so I didn’t know how much they weighed, but it felt heavier than it looked. I put it on the floor, shone my JETBeam South Africa torch inside, and there was a very unhappy black mamba!”
The black mamba opened its mouth at Evans, telling him to “go away”.
Evans stated he didn’t suppose getting the snake out could be an issue. He simply wanted to shake it out, nevertheless, that may not work.
“No, I didn’t turn the machine on. It needed a plug, but also I didn’t know where inside the mamba could go, and I didn’t want to injure it,” Evans stated.
“Then, the mamba popped out the top pipe, if I can call it that, not the larger, main one. Just the head was popping out. Despite all my efforts, I could not coax it out.”
Evans stated he had one other name to take care of and the house owner handed him a screwdriver. He unscrewed the screws in the midst of the leaf blower, taking the principle pipe off.
“Then it was game over for the mamba. Apart from struggling to squeeze it out of the smaller pipe, I had it under control.
“A 2.4m specimen, a little underweight, but not worryingly so,” Evans stated.
“I’m not eagerly hoping for a mamba in a leaf blower again any time soon, although I suppose now I know how to best get it out.”
Evans thanked the household for calling him.
He added that the snake was launched into nature, removed from folks.
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