KT Reptile Removal & Relocation Services - KZN

AWARENESS POST

It's been a very long two days.
I know that we haven't been that great at keeping you all updated with what's been captured and released recently, but I did feel it was necessary to bring the two most recent incidents, involving Black Mambas, to everyone's attention.

Yesterday, we arrived at a call in a rural area only to discover a Black Mamba in a tuck shop.

This snake was beaten by the people who were armed with spades, bush knives and pangas.
They proudly admitted to this ... together with the fact that they doused his face with thinners.

We made a drive through to Umkomaas where Miguel and I tried to clean him off as best we could.... during which, he began "coughing" up blood.

It wasn't in the trachea, so the injury was not in the lungs, as is visible in the photos, but obviously , this poor snake has internal injuries.

One obvious injury is a spinal fracture , fortunately with the spinal cord still intact .

We weren't certain whether he would make the night, but surprisingly, he did and is behaving more like a Mamba ......

Today's story......

I received a call from an area that I do not cover. I passed it on to another handler, only for him to receive a voice note, indicating that they have "trapped" the snake, and that they now required assistance in removing it.

This poor female Black Mamba was literally crushed beneath these bricks... the force of which, started pushing her eggs from her body. She undoubtedly would have suffered tremendously.

It was a pointless situation that nobody could have actually done much about, because even if, by some miracle, she had survived the ordeal with the assistance of someone removing those bricks off of her body, she would undoubtedly have died from her injuries.
Nevertheless, I phoned the people back to ask them if I could make the trip to assist and attempt to save her eggs, even if I was unable to save her..... the woman told me that her neighbours came round and smashed her face in, whereafter, they burnt her remains, so there went my plans of saving her offspring.....

Both of these situations are recipes for disaster and someone could have easily been bitten.

As Jason Arnold so rightly pointed out in a comment on a similar post:

"Not to mention that a snake that's now been attacked by humans, is going to be more dangerous for us to work with and if we end up being bitten by a really angry, scared and injured, venomous snake, it's going to make damn sure that it pumps us with all the venom it can.

Please people, leave the snakes alone. The only time it becomes dangerous to you, is when you make it feel scared or threatened.

Call a professional to assist, otherwise leave it alone and give it the opportunity to move away on its own, which they always will do if given the chance."

By interfering and trying to injure the snake, by whatever means, you're not only endangering your own lives, but the lives of the people that you call to assist you.

Handy numbers: any one of these people can put you in touch with a professional if they do not cover your particular area.

Jason - 0827456375 - Durban North & Surrounds
Caitlin - 0842054677 - Amanzimtoti & Surrounds
Miguel - +27 72 612 3218 - Umkomaas & Surrounds
Byron - +27 82 894 6783 Upper Highway

Received a call out today from my good friend, Miguel da Fonseca, to say that a guy had been trying to reach me about a snake on the pavement near the beach.

I made contact with the gentleman, who was parked off watching the snake. I established the location and off I went.

Upon my arrival, I met the gentleman, who had his hazards on, while ensuring the snake was safe until I arrived.

He said that he was alerted to the presence of the snake because children were throwing rocks at it, as it attempted, unsuccessfully, to climb the wall into the bush above it.

I'm not sure if there are internal injuries, but judging from the size of the rocks that were hurled its way, and the fact that the snake is rather lethargic, it seems quite likely 😔.

I'll hang on for a bit before release.

Sidenote: although this green mamba was under attack, at no point did the snake display any aggression whatsoever. This both intrigued and amazed the gentleman who was watching.
He chased the kids away before I arrived 😊

😔A fairly young snake of around a meter in length. Tail tip is missing, plus evidence of previous features.

Calls like these really restore my faith in humanity .... a random passerby, who is petrified of snakes ,but wanted no harm to come to the snake or anyone that was walking on the pavement .... and insistent upon covering my call out .... wow !

Whilst many of you are preparing for your Christmas lunch and time with your loved ones, those in rescue of any kind, can attest to the fact that “rest” is a dirty word.

Today I drove out to Club Marina in Ifafa for the second time, in an attempt to capture a big monitor lizard that was injured. Tracy Rowles Umsizi alerted me to the plight of this poor lizard and requested I assist .

I am very happy that I was successful in my endeavours today and I was able to secure the lizard quickly, and get him to Dr Kerry Easson for X-rays and treatment.
This lizard is one of the biggest I’ve caught at 7.2kgs ❤️.

Sadly, there’s someone that lives there that is shooting the wildlife. The nasty sod has shot a mongoose with an arrow and kills monkeys fairly regularly; the most recent of which was yesterday evening.

I truly fear for the future of our wildlife as they are not even safe within what most would consider a safe environment ☹️!

Whilst with Dr Easson, I had her check over a Brown House Snake that had been bitten by a dog. Unfortunately,the spinal cord was no longer intact and there was nothing further that could be done to assist the animal.

I also released the little monitor from the other day that I caught in the shop in Kwamakutha. Boy, was it happy to be free 🤗🦎🌞.

A big shout out to all those rescue peeps out there that work tirelessly , day in and day out , in an attempt to make a positive impact in respect of our wildlife.

I am available throughout this silly season should anyone require my assistance.

0842054677

We received these eggs yesterday after they’d been accidentally dug up in an amanzimtoti resident’s garden.

I’m fairly convinced that they are tree agama eggs. Stay tuned to see what comes out ❤️

Please feel free to give me a call if you find eggs whilst gardening, and I will do everything I can to look after them until they hatch, and safely release them into a more suitable habitat .

0842054677

I was called out to Kwamakutha earlier this afternoon for a “xamu” ... water monitor lizard 🙂.

Upon my arrival, the guys told me it was fairly small but it was somewhere inside the shop. As they opened the shop,I looked around hopelessly and thought there wasn’t any hope of finding it.

My mother and I were searching all over this shop with two guys that ran the shop . I was so chuffed when we eventually located it under a crate, at the bottom of a pile of chip packets.

❤️🦎

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and then at 21h00 I received a call for a large brown snake in Chatsworth.
So , off I went, and the snake was easily located and captured. A beautiful, big Brown House Snake .

❤️🐍

For any assistance with snakes or other reptiles, in and around the Amanzimtoti area, please don’t hesitate to give me a call - 0842054677 .

Working through the festive period and into the new year to ensure the safety of all concerned 🐍🦎😀

I ran my little legs off yesterday after snakes and I returned home from another call for a brown house snake at around 2h00.

The gentleman felt bad to call a lady at that time of the night because it can be quite unsafe , but I reassured him that it was okay and said snake was easily located and captured.

This snake appears to be holding its head at a peculiar angle when moving. Other than that, it’s in fantastic condition with not a single scar❤️.

I’ll check it over properly today.

I Battled to sleep once I was home, because of course,I was now wide awake 🙄😁. Anyway, all is well that ends well 🐍.

If circumstances arise that necessitate my assistance with a snake, please don’t hesitate to contact me - 0842054677.

I’m available 24/7 and working through the festive season 👍🐍.

These were the photos I received from a concerned resident.

I went out and safely removed the snake, who had recently eaten something and it will be released tomorrow morning.

Vine Snake (Thelotornis capensis)
Highly venomous