Where did the more than three-metre python found “hanging round” on a patch of bush next to the M19 in New Germany, west of Durban, come from?
Even experienced snake rescuer Nick Evans is baffled.
On Thursday Evans made his way to the M19 after eThekwini municipality contacted him about a python in the vicinity.
“There's no pythons there; it will be a black mamba, I said. There probably was a python population in the vicinity many, many decades ago, but they've since been wiped out. Though, it would be a little unusual to be a mamba too, just more likely. It was on the island between the off-ramp to Otto Volek Road and the M19. It's built-up all around there, except for the small New Germany Nature Reserve. And the reserve isn't known for its mambas,” he said.
“Anyway, on Thursday, I followed them to the spot where they had been seeing the big snake. When we arrived, I got out of my car, armed with my tongs, ready to catch the mamba. Then they pointed out the snake.
“I was shocked — it was a python.”
Evans put his tongs back and approached the “basking beast of a snake”.
“I walked right up to it — easy catch, I thought, as I was about to grab its head. Of course, catches are rarely easy. It exploded into action. No, not attacking me like in the movie Anaconda. It was going in the opposite direction, into thicker bush. I had to catch this snake. It had no future here.
“I grabbed the tail, but as it peed in my hands as always, it was starting to slip out of my grip. Up stepped Joseph. He came to help me and grabbed the tail end, just as I was losing it. Together we pulled and pulled, and I could feel us 'winning' the tug of war. I let go of it and moved forward to go for the head, which I quickly got. The wrestling match was over.”
He said he would not have caught the snake if it were not for the other man’s help.
“The pic doesn't do it justice. It's a big snake. Where did it come from? Your guess is as good as mine. I don't believe it's an escaped pet. Southern African pythons are a protected species, illegal to keep and make terrible pets as they do not calm down. Sometimes they're kept illegally in cruel conditions, not as pets, but for scamming reasons, but such snakes usually have injuries on their snouts from attempting to escape.
“I don't believe it came from New Germany as there's no population there. It wouldn't have caught a lift in a light motor vehicle, like other snakes do. Too big. There's an industrial area nearby. Maybe, just maybe, it got into a truck somewhere and got brought to the New Germany area.”
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