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- A venomous green mamba was caught in Durban.
- Jason Arnold said it took him five minutes to remove the snake.
- The snake, around 1.7m long, was relocated to a coastal habitat.
It took Durban snake catcher Jason Arnold just five minutes to catch and secure a venomous green mamba, near the Ribumed Day Hospital, more than a week ago.
The 1.7m long snake was hidden among a bush of trees, but Arnold subsequently removed it.
Speaking to News24, Arnold - dubbed "the snake man" - said the mamba was sighted a few times by residents. However, it was not able to be caught.
"Green Mambas are a very shy and calm species, but have a potential neurotoxic venom that causes paralysis to the central nervous system, particularly the diaphragm, causing asphyxiation, due to the patient's inability to breathe," Arnold said.
He said when he got the call, it was "very strange" because these kinds of snakes shouldn't be in the area at all.
"Staff at the medical facility said the day I went to get it, it was the third time it was seen. On the second sighting, another snake handler was called, but he couldn't find it up in the thick, interlinking trees it had climbed into," Arnold said.
When he eventually got to the property, a security guard showed him where the snake was.
"They are fast, and the snake will use his speed to get away from me, rather than [come] at me. All you'll do by getting close to a green mamba is you'll [scare it] and make him cruise off," said Arnold.
He said he needed to jump over a wall to get a decent grip on the snake, so it wouldn't slither off.
A group of people watched in anticipation as Arnold manoeuvred around, trying to get the snake.
A woman in the background pleaded with Arnold not to "drop it".
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Arnold said the snake "watched" him with piercing eyes as he made his way to grip it by the head.
Within five minutes, it was caught and put into a snake bag.
"Nobody would be bitten unless they were directly interfering with it," Arnold said.
The snake has since been released into a safe and suitable coastal habitat, where green mambas usually occur.
He cautioned people not to panic when they see snakes.
"Snakes don't want to bite people, so all you need to do is keep calm and get dogs away. Dogs will usually attack snakes and often get bitten in the process. Then, just keep your eyes on the snake without disturbing or interfering with it," Arnold said.
Arnold said that, if the snake was dangerous, a professional catcher should be called to remove it safely.
