Durban — A snake catcher in Durban was called out to a resort in Umhlanga Rocks for a snake described as a herald snake but a video showed that the snake was in fact a Mozambique spitting cobra.
Snake handler Jason Arnold was called out to the Umhlanga Rocks area for a snake in a well-known and busy resort.
Arnold said that the snake was being watched and based on the caller’s description, it sounded to him like a harmless herald snake but he asked the caller to send him a picture or a video, if possible and he sent a picture and it was of a Mozambique spitting cobra.
“His description was actually quite far out from a spitting cobra which is why I thought it was a herald snake,” Arnold said.
He said that people at the resort tried to get the snake into a plastic bucket but they saw that it sort of ‘flattened its head’, they said.
“That’s another reason why I thought it was a herald because they do that. And I can’t understand how and why they didn’t realise at that exact moment that the snake is a spitting cobra because these things spit for nothing. You just get close to them and they start spitting,” Arnold said.
“So I don’t know how it is that they tried to get it into a plastic bucket and still didn’t realise that they are dealing with a spitting cobra.”
When Arnold reached the resort, he was shown to where the snake was, dense foliage.
He said of course the snake went to the place where it was thickest, as he searched for the snake.
He also said that he wished he was not wearing dark glasses because it does not help to wear dark glasses while looking for a snake in a dark place.
A woman took over recording and assisted Arnold in spotting the cobra which was moving up and down the dense foliage.
When Arnold stuck his tongs in the dense foliage, the cobra came out into the open and snuck back in again before he could get it.
Arnold then decided to enter by the opposite end of the dense foliage and had the cobra by its tail.
“It’s so difficult to try and keep an eye on this guy it’s in the shade and this dense foliage, it’s quite dark. I couldn’t see where it was going,” Arnold said.
After pulling the snake out, Arnold checked its sex and said it was a male cobra.
“It’s not their mating season now,” Arnold said.
“It’s probably about four or five years. But it’s not fully grown.”
Arnold said that if it was mating season and if the snake was a female, there is a very good likelihood that a male would come looking because it would follow her scent.
Arnold also tried to get the cobra to spit but it did not spit. He said the spitting is to keep you at bay.
He also said that the snake was very calm.
Later, Arnold released the spitting cobra in a bushy area far away from people.
After Arnold removed the snake from the sack, it spat at him a couple of times.
The snake did not slither away into the bush as soon as Arnold let it out. Instead, it stood its ground and stared at him.
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