Durban woman finds 1.9-metre-long black mamba in her garden

A Verulam woman got the shock of her life when a 1.9-metre black mamba slithered into her garden on Wednesday.

The woman, who didn’t want to be named, said that she was in her house when she heard screams come from her garden.

“My helper was hanging clothes on the line when she saw it in the reflection of the window, she screamed and I rushed to see what was happening,” said the woman.

When she got to the garden she saw the snake coiled up under the awning with just its head visible.

She immediately called Jason Arnold, a professional snake handler. 

“Snakes like these and spitting cobras are very common in this area because there is a lot of nature and bush, I have been called out to this area hundreds of time,” said Arnold.

Arnold, who has been a snake handler for 26 years said that he would be releasing the snake back into the wild and as far away from humans as possible.

“I usually release them around nature reserves and as far away from humans as I can,” he said.