“An Awesome Catch”: Nick Evans Details 1st Black Mamba Rescue of the Year

• Nick Evans took to social media to share his excitement after catching his first black mamba of the year
• The snake was discovered in a Bellair home in Durban and had snuck into a barrel filled with wood and plastic
• The catch posed a bit of a challenge but Evans was able to successfully capture the two metre-long long specimen

After waiting impatiently for his first mamba of the year, Nick Evans couldn’t be happier when he received his first call to catch one in Bellair, Durban this week.

The homeowner’s dogs alerted them of the snake, which was slithering in the garden.

Nick said it climbed up and over a short wall and just on the other side of the wall in a vacant property was a barrel, filled with wood and plastic.

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“As I soon learnt, this was a real pain to pull out. I couldn't see the mamba in there, but I started pulling out the wood. That was so rotten it just broke away. Then, the piles of plastic bags, which of course, kept getting caught on all the rusted metal! Then, at one tug of the plastic, I suddenly saw the mamba, shooting out towards me! I stood up, and like me, it got a fright, so it turned back in,” said the snake rescuer.

He shared that he could only really see the mamba once the last piece of plastic was out. The snake then attempted to get out through the back side, going back into the caller’s garden, but fortunately Nick was able to grab the neck with his tongs.

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“It started reversing,but I couldn't get my hand there. I let it reverse back into the barrel, and pulled it out from there. A powerful, 2m long snake, in the blue (about to shed),” said an excited Nick who also responded to call to catch a Mozambique Spitting Cobra in Queensburgh afterwards.

Online shared their comments on the mamba catch on the Facebook post:

Karen Moodley reacted:

"Wow, first mamba catch for 2022, awesome catch."

Shelley Sykes Keene said:

"Note the bluish colour of the eyes". Note the brownish colour of my pants as I run away

June Welch commented:

"Well done Nick."

Shenaz Abdul Wahab reacted:

"You have never caught a green mamba... I'll bet they don't go hiding in people's homes like black mambas."

Chandanee Rooplal wrote:

"You really work hard cleaning up for people then finding the snake. Mozambican spitting cobra amazing rescue. Keep up the good work Sir Nick Evans."

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Over 100 black mambas caught in 2021, Nick Evans shares what he learned

Briefly News previously reported that 2021 was a busy year for Durban’s popular snake rescuer, Nick Evans, who captured more than 100 black mambas. He also received 30 calls for mamba rescues in December alone, 21 which were captured (including a few by close friends).

While these figures may terrify the average person, he shared figures and details of some of his highlights and findings.

“The Greater Durban Area (eThekwini Municipality) has a population of close to 3.5m people. Well, I've looked at a few sites for exact figures, some suggest more than that. But let's call it 3.5mill. In 2021, while trying to network with doctors at different hospitals or other snake-removers, I recorded a total of two confirmed black mamba bites. There may have been one or two others not recorded. Two. Out of 3.5 million+-. About 0.000057% of the population,” said Evans.

Source: Briefly News