A Durban woman got more than she bargained for on Tuesday morning when she woke up with a 2.1 meter stranger.
The woman from Parlock in Newlands West woke up to what she reported as a large black snake in her bedroom, according to a video posted by Jason Arnold of Universal Reptiles.
Arnold, who was called to remove the snake, said that when he got the call he expected to find a small spotted bush snake.
Instead, Arnold found a large Black Mamba coiled atop the woman's headboard.
“Sho! And the female was sleeping in this room with the mamba! Sho! Just goes to show how lucky people are that snakes aren’t out there to get us otherwise so many of us would be bitten. Instead they are shy and don’t want anything to do with people,” Arnold said in the video.
According to Arnold, it is not uncommon for him to be called out to remove black mambas, adding that there are many of them in the Durban area.
“I’ve found them in people's beds, their bathrooms and under couches.”
While 2 meter snake might seem large to most people, he said they were quite normal and ‘not very big’ compared to the 3-4 meter mambas found in other provinces.
The mamba was relocated to a nearby reserve, away from people.
“I would advise anyone who finds a mamba, especially in their house, to call a professional rather than deal with it themselves,” said Arnold.
