“Enough To Mess Up Your Day”: Pretoria Gent Shares Scary Black Mamba Rescue Operation

• A Pretoria snake removal expert, Arno Naude, shared a nerve-wracking story of how he and his partner, Heidi, caught a 2.5-metre black mamba
• The catch was made even more stressful by the fact that the hospital nearby had already used up all its antivenom
• Many asked serious questions about why so many black mambas are suddenly turning up in Pretoria suburbs

Just two days after his friend was hospitalised following a black mamba bite, Pretoria snake removal expert Arno Naude found himself face-to-face with another one. He shared the story on 28 March 2026 alongside a photo of the snake.

It started when his partner Heidi headed out to deal with what they thought was a routine problem snake. Twenty minutes later, she called him with the words he was not expecting to hear so soon: she had found a big black mamba. He grabbed a pair of gloves, a set of tongs and a bucket with a lid. It was the same bucket that had held the mamba that put his buddy Awie in the hospital days before, and drove over.

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On the way, he thought through his options. His friend Hugo was nearby, and so was EMS practitioner Xander. The nearest hospital was about 25 minutes away. Then it hit him. The hospital had just used up all its antivenom two days earlier. That made him very focused on not getting bitten.

When he arrived, Heidi had already tried to coax the snake into a tube with no success. He peeked around the bathroom door and saw a black mamba around 2.5 metres long sitting inside. He decided not to waste time and grabbed the snake with the tongs, but the mamba pulled back and he ended up holding only its head. He gripped the rest of it with his hands and tried to pull it free, but it would not budge. Heidi rushed in, grabbed the body, and pulled it loose. She got the body into the bucket, and Arno released the head.

View the Facebook post below:

Mzansi impressed by the black mamba rescue operation

People were gripped by the story from start to finish, sharing their thoughts on Facebook user @arno.naude's post:

@Eldrid Buys said:

"Mess up his day, he says…"

@Michelle Stratford wrote:

"Why are there so many black mambas in Gauteng? This is about the fourth one I have heard of."

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@Laura Thomas wrote:

"I am getting heart palpitations just reading this. Glad everyone is safe."

@Pieter Swanepoel said:

"My hands still shake after the bucket lid is on. Well done."

@George Miller asked:

"Glad you are safe. Where was the snake caught, and where did this hitchhiker come from?"

@Doc Joe added:

"I so respect what you guys do."

@Hugo Minnaar joked:

"I am sure Neville Vlok has already secured more antivenom. Nervous laugh."

More on scary Pretoria snake encounters

• Briefly News recently reported on an adult male bitten by a black mamba in Jan Niemand Park in Pretoria.
• A veteran snake catcher ended up in the ICU after being bitten by a black mamba while trying to safely relocate it.
• An EMS practitioner shared a full and honest follow-up on the Pretoria black mamba bite case.

Source: Briefly News