Durban — A green mamba was spotted in an uprooted tree in Oslo Beach while two others were disturbed while mating in a mango tree in Umzumbe, both on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
Snake catcher Sarel van der Merwe said that in the first incident, people saw a green mamba pop its head out of the uprooted tree on Monday.
“Catch of the day was a green mamba in Oslo Beach.”
Van der Merwe said he received a call about a tree that had fallen over and onto the road due to rotten roots, where a green mamba was seen.
“People who were walking by saw the green mamba stick its head out,” Van der Merwe said.
He said he asked them to keep an eye out while he made his way to them.
“I started looking for the snake, poking my stick in the tree. It came out and I grabbed it,” Van der Merwe said.
After placing it in the travel box, Van der Merwe said he looked in the tree again because it was mating season and he wanted to check if there was another snake in there, but he found nothing.
Van der Merwe said he found the two mating mambas in a mango tree in Umzumbe on Wednesday.
He said he was called out to a community property where two green mambas were seen mating in a tree.
Van der Merwe said he said he couldn’t climb into the tree and asked for some of the branches to be trimmed, but people said they were scared. They eventually fetched a saw and started removing some of the branches.
“As it dropped (branch), it dropped with the snakes because they were mating,” Van der Merwe said.
“They were confused.
“I grabbed one, placed it in the travel box and closed the lid. I then ran to grab the other one. Luckily, the first one went under the newspapers, making it easier for me to put in the second one as well,” Van der Merwe explained.
He said they were a mating pair and he did not want to break them up.
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