Black Mamba in your bedroom: Durban teen’s nap turns into a nightmare

Snake rescuer, Nick Evans reported that he received a call from a panicked young man in the Welbedacht area in Chatsworth, Durban on Friday, 19 March after the teenager spotted a Black Mamba in his bedroom. After the terrifying sight, he swiftly exited the room, shut the door behind him and called for help.

BLACK MAMBA SLITHERS INTO BEDROOM

Help arrived in the form of Evans, who is dedicated to protecting and conserving the amphibians and reptiles of KwaZulu-Natal via educational and awareness programmes. The teenager was reportedly enjoying an afternoon nap when he was woken up by the sound of things being knocked over on the bedroom floor before spotting the Black Mamba, according to Evans in a Facebook post. 

Evans reported that the large room contained two beds and was divided in two by a wardrobe. This meant that the animal could be anywhere and therefore he proceeded with caution.

The teenager’s bed was on the far side of the room and the snake was not under the first bed and couch the snake rescuer had to walk past.

SNAKE LODGES ITSELF UNDERNEATH THE MATTRESS

Evans eventually made it to the far side of the room but still could not gauge where the Black Mamba was because of the poor visibility in the cluttered room. Next, Evans, the caller and his friend, decided to move the blankets and the mattress outside the bedroom.

“As I started lifting the mattress, I noticed some wooden beams across the bed base, for extra support. Then, to my amazement, there was the Black Mamba, curled up under the mattress, in the gap made by these beams!” said Evans.

The rescuer instructed his impromptu assistants to immediately vacate the room as he did not know how the snake would react.

‘A MAMBA UNDER THE MATTRESS, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?’

“A mamba under the mattress. Can you believe it?! Imagine going to sleep and it slithers over you in the night? As someone who loves mambas, I can you tell you that even I would not want to experience that,” said Evans.

The rescuer moved the mattress out of the way and attempted to grab the snake but it evaded him by moving out of the bed and hiding behind clutter near the wardrobe.

At this stage, the caller and his friend were perched on a couch behind Evans and acting as an extra set of eyes. They saw the Black Mamba slither out the other side of the wardrobe and hide underneath another bed.

“I rushed around to grab it, but it was too quick for me, and bolted back to the initial side. It then tried to hide in the gap between the wardrobe and the wall, a small gap, and this is where I managed to capture it,” said Evans.

The snake catcher explained how he stood on one of the beds and pulled the head-end of the snake out with his tongs before pinning it down quickly.

READ: Snake prank goes viral: would you poep yourself? [VIDEO]

BIGGER THAN EXPECTED: BLACK MAMBA WAS ABOUT 2.2M LONG

Evans said the Black Mamba was larger than he expected it to be based on his initial sighting. It reportedly measured approximately 2.2 meters and he remarked that it was quite a feisty animal and noted that the situation could have ended badly for both the caller and the animal. Evans added that Mambas usually try to hide rather than attack, as was the case this time around.

“I am so thankful to the caller for calling, and his community for waiting for me. I know they’re delighted to see it go, although I also know that they know it probably won’t be the last, with thick bush below their properties,” he said.

READ: ‘Massive Mamba’ coils around rescuer’s neck in Chatsworth