Durban South Snake Rescue

06/02/2025

Two Mambas in 2 days ,what a rush!!

The title says it all. I love catching Mambas.
They are the most interesting in reptiles in the world.
Every single one I've caught has had a different personality. From being , How did I manage to get that in the bucket? to the ones that just want to get in the bucket and others that are just plainly nasty.
So the call came inround about 20h45 for a suspected Mamba underneath a work bench in a garage in Welbedaght. As I could hear these gentlemen had a really good evening playing cards. It was a bit difficult to get the location but eventually got it out of them.
Travis, Savannah and myself took a 30 minute journey to their residence.
We were greeted by the gentlemen in question and he ushered us into the garage where they were all still playing cards.
I asked who was watching the Mamba and they all responded we are . They pointed to the corner of the garage and pointed under the work bench and said it was there and continued their game of cards.
We then shon our torches under the work bench and spotted a large Mamba, I then quickly grabbed it with my tongs and pulled it out from under the work bench. It was a fairly large Mamba definitely over 2.6 meters.
In the process I lost my glasses and my daughter has alway wanted to second me on a Mamba catch. So she got hold of it with a second pair of tongs, in order for me to pick up my glasses, reposition myself and neck the Mamba. Then everyone wanted to have a look at it. We did notice a very large old wound.
That I have asked Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer to come and have a look at it as he takes all the Mambas off my hands that I catch for research, also discovering the Mamba was dehydrated, it will be taken to the vet for further care.
The second Mamba was on Wednesday the call came round about 2 O Clock in the afternoon. It was in Bellair a lady said she saw a fairly large brown snake in her kitchen when she came home from shopping.
So again Travis ,Savannah and myself raced though to Bellair, on arrival we were ushered to the kitchen as everyone was standing outside.
Honestly I was expecting a Spitting Cobra.
As I scanned the kitchen I noticed a large Mamba trying to hide under the fridge, Unfortunately for the Mamba he could only get his head and half his body under the fridge as it was a fairly large one.
I then grabbed it by the tail and tried to pull it out from underneath the fridge with no avail.
So I let it go and it managed to get its whole body under the fridge. So with the hook stick ,a torch and Savannah on tong duty I then very gently prodded and pocked the Mamba,it became a bit of a game of cat and mouse, as it would stick its head out and gap and hiss at us and then dissappear underneath again.
Travis saw it stick its head out on the opposite side of the fridge, Savannah subdued it with the tongs.
Well done my girl.
I then quickly grabbed my tongs , necked it and got blind sided with a photo session and we then put the snake into a bucket.
We also noticed that this Mamba was also very dehydrated and it's jaw was very skew.
We then phoned Nick Evans who came out for a se ond time to collect the Mamba for medical attention.


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I would just like to thank the community for always supporting us
I would like to thank my wife Helen for always backing me up and ready to go on snake catches.
To Savannah and Travis for always jumping in the car and being g willing to help.
Thank you to Shayla for her willingness to help with catches and learning about snakes and don't worry you will come on a Mamba catch soon.

06/02/2025

February started off with a bang.We started off with a House snake or 2 and then we went onto a Red lipped Herald that was in a car engine that was thaught to be a Black mamba.
Then back to a night time call . A fairly large snake in a kitchen described as a Brown house snake. Which ended up being a fairly large Spitting Cobra. So that was the first few days of February.
Sunday afternoon , the first call came in , I was with some friends who decided to come with on the snake call. Shayla Paul and myself (Grant) raced up to Westville north to rescue a House snake in a garage which low and behold turned out to be a very cheeky medium sized Spitting Cobra. Which gave Shayla and myself a very descent shower of venom as Paul was running up and down to get safety goggles.
For some odd reason Monday was a very quiet day with only a bush snake to brag about.
Tuesday morning started with a bang.
We got a call out to RTI in Marrionnhill.
For a supposed Black Mamba in the Vodacom tower site , smack bang in the middle of RTI.
So Helen my wife got there as quickly as we could. We searched hi and low, in the towers,battery rooms , under the battery rooms, we even searched outside the tower, with the only thing popping up was a cat.
We were just about to leave , someone saw it pop it's head out of a portable generator on a trailer.
Unfortunately it was parked very close to the fence so we then had to play musical cars to tow it out to a suitable place.
As I was moving my Landy it decided it was time to leave. Thank to Helen keeping an eye out for it she caught her first Boom Slang.
Well done hun.
That was quickly bucketed by myself.


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06/02/2025

Hi everybody it's been a while since we have posted, it's been an interesting January for us with some quite interesting catches. On the first of January we caught a beautiful Natal Black snake to open the year, very beautiful and rarer snake that I have only had the pleasure to catch once in the wild before many years ago.
With the usual suspects Spotted bush snakes, Red lipped Heralds,and house snakes making up the bulk of our catches. The spitting Cobras or imfezi's have also been making themselves known 3 in January and we got out first Black mamba of the year.
A very special little snake very close to my heart a non venomous species a Spotted Rock Snake, which we don't get to catch often but we're called out foe in the middle of the night.
We also got to catch a very naughty water snake that was hiding I side a photocopy Machine at Minolta in Pine town.
I'm very glad to see that the general public are starting to identify snakes correctly.

24/12/2024

It's been a very interesting two weeks.
We were invited to go to Tala Game reserve with the Landrover club. There we managed to have a wonderful talk on snakes and some very intense four by fouring afterwards and we were privileged enough to see parts of the reserve that many don't get to see.
We would like to thank Paul aka Faulty and Bridgette and the committee for organizing such a wonderful day.
After this with the warming up of the weather these lasts two weeks have been busy.
From finding a juvenile Boom Slang in a car that hitched a ride from the Kosi bay area.
To a Night adder that hitched a ride in a panel van from the airport to Durban.
We also had an interesting catch of a gravid Vine snake in Mosley that produced 6 eggs.
We will hatch and duly update everybody when this happens in approximately 90 days.
We also had a fantastic catch of a Black mamba at Metrofile in Weastmead.
My first solo catch since I have been bitten.
A little bit of sad news; we were called out to Westville prison buy a very nice gate guard who had stopped some guys from throwing some bricks onto a black mamba.
Cameron my son and I raced to go and rescue the mamba , whenwe got there , it was still alive but badly injured. I phoned Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer and met with him to see if we could save the Mamba but unfortunately it died from its injuries. A very sad day for us snake rescuers as it did not deserve its fate.
Once again I ask the public please if you have a dangerous snake on your property to phone a snake catcher and observe the reptile from a distance and not harm it and we will remove it and take it to a safe place where it cannot be harmed.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas 🎄
We are available




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24/12/2024

Spotted bush snakes
The spotties seem to be doing their rounds
For some or other reason they have been hiding in drawers and cubboards in this heat.




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11/12/2024

Just for laughs




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07/12/2024

A very strange call for us.

A very nice lady from Umdloti named Debbie gave us a call at about ten past ten on Friday night, enquiring if we catch snakes in Umdloti.
I was a bit hesitant as we don't normally go out to Umdloti as it is a little bit far from Queensburgh. So in good stead I asked her what type of snake she thinks they have in the area.
And she said there was a Python on the beach.
A bit dumb founded as that is not the usual spot to find a Python. It was near the tide pool.
So I immediately said we would get there as soon as we can. In true Landrover fashion , my Landrover decided ot wanted to take a break for the night. A quick call to Travis my future son in law, I had him picking me up in record time. Cameron (my son) , Travis and myself were on our way to Umdloti .
Phoning and assuring Debbie we were on our way as she had Marshal security keeping an eye on the snake on the beach for us.
We arrived at the beach, they flashed their spot light to show us where they were.
The car hadn't even stopped and I already hit the ground running.
Negotiating a pretty dodgy bank down onto the beach I got to the spot where the snake was on the sand. From there it was a easy catch as the Python was ice ice cold.
This is the first Python catch as Durban-south-snake-rescue but not the first that I have had. I'm so greatful that I got to Rescue this reptile as they are a protected species and the last one we went out to rescue was killed and sold for motie.
We hydrated the Python and it has been safely releases in an undisclosed location far away from humans.
I would just like to give a big thank yiu to Marshal security, Debbie , the fishermen who notified Marshal security of the snake on the beach and the curious on lookers that took photos of the Python and the community of Umdloti for being so nature conscious.
Please don't hesitate to give us a ring or send us a whats up., we can advise ,identify, or come out and catch and remove snakes and release them in a safe place.
Remember they were here long before we built houses and they are the best natural pest control and realistically Africa belongs to the wildlife.

Regards Grant Durban-south-snake-rescue
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and son Cameron @ Umdloti beach

02/12/2024

We were dropped off a bus of a night adder to release into a safe area away from people . So greatful they didn't kill it.




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02/12/2024

So we had a lot of calls for spotted bush snakes.
Red lipped Heralds
And one or two night adders

02/12/2024

Last night in this crazy weather we were called out to Claire Estate for a snake in a cubboard .
Shame the poor lady was frantic she is terrified of snakes.
When we arrived we had to go to the kitchen area and open the cubboard.(the corner unit)
Unfortunately there was a gap, it went into the area where the kick plates are.
Murphys law you always find the snake in the last place you look.
With permission of the client we started breaking the kick plates to find the snake as his wife just wanted it gone.
Getting nearer to the end of the cubboard line we managed to make a video to see if the snake was there. As the cubboards were in a L shape.
After checking the video footage on the phone we saw it hiding right in the corner.
Trying to move it closer to Grant it just wouldn't budge. So the rest of the kick plate had to be removed.
From first sight it looked like a brown house but when we got it closer it seemed to be a little spitting cobra. Remember this was basically in the dark getting eye view with a torch. It gave Grant a bit of a fright .
Only after grabbing it with the small grab and putting it in the bucket we realized what it was.
A black File snake 🐍 a very rarer find and such a privilege.
A big thanks to Trevor and Jacqui for the sponsorship of the Land Rover and the signage a big blessing.



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02/12/2024

Haven't posted in a while
Guess we will post backwards

29/10/2024

Hi guys it's been a while since I've been on Facebook. I've had a friend with me from out of the country. We have been doing a lot of catches since winter. The house snakes are back in full force so are the red lipped Heralds. The spotties are making their appearances in homes and making people whom are petrified of snakes even more scared, even though I try and explain to them they are totally harmless.
I have had some great catches at the beginning of spring and into October with 2 beautiful Mozambique spitting Cobras and for me not a common catch 2 Vine Snakes.
I even got a Mamba that I had to call Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer in for help as it was in a difficult position to catch. Well done Nick for grabbing it.
It's with a heavy heart that I get very angry with humans for calling me out when they have already injured a snake by smashing it with a rock or by throwing boiling water on the snake and sheep dip all over them.
I am a snake catcher, a conservationist and we catch snakes to relocate them away from humans. So please I'm asking you if you see a snake , stand back , watch It, phone a snake catcher and if possible get a photograph and send it to any of the snake catchers in the area.
We will come out and catch it.
We do charge as we have to keep our vehicles running , put petrol in our vehicles for the next call,and we also have to release the snakes in a very safe place away from human beings.
I don't have sponsors as a lot of people think I do.
A personal friend of mine Trevor Slogrove donated us a Landrover Discovery as he is also an avid reptile lover and unfortunately he is only in the country about 5 months in the year.
His sister sponsored us the signage on our other vehicle a very old Opel Corsa of which Trevor intern helped us to rebuild the whole motor after the engine blew in August.
I would also like to thank the Queensburgh community for putting money together to get me a new set of tongs as I had a mishap and my tongs broke.
I also appreciate being recognized by the community when I am out and about and they actually stop me and ask me questions about snakes. And to the youngsters whom send me whats app messages and ask me for identifications of snakes , well done girls and guys we are happy to see we are making an impact.
Here's to a great snake season to all my fellow snake catchers be safe and don't get bitten
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Picture of one of the Vine snakes
-south-snake-rescue

05/09/2024

With August being the coldest month this year, we don't usually get a lot of snake calls.
But for some odd reason we had quite a few hot days in August. Snake calls steadily came in, not as much as usual. With a mixed bag of snakes consisting if one Spitting Cobra, three Red Lipped Heralds, three Brown House snakes and two Spotted Bush snakes. With one of the house snakes being an extremely late call out after twelve O clock at night.
With our car breaking down constantly, I would like to thank a friend of mine Trevor for responding with me and using his vehicle.
Our signage is on will post photos soon.
Thank you Jacqui for making the signage and putting it on the vehicle.






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08/08/2024

08/08/2024

Snake catchers have been very slow . Even though we managed to fix the car 🚗 there are other components which are not working now .
It's not drivable at all. Not only can we not get to calls if there are any, we have a baby arriving soon. Within the next 2 weeks or even sooner. With the worry of not being able to take Savannah to the hospital 🏥 Unfortunately a Government one as well . Is causing sleepless nights and nightmares at the same time .
Please if anybody can assist it would be a blessing from above . Or if you know of anybody that can assist have a chat with them to help. Any amount will get us to where we need to be. Running out of food water and electricity is not a good position to be in and as we have had assistance recently . The people that did help are not in a position to help at this point in time. With new branding sponsored by Trevor And Jacqui now we need to get the vehicle up and running and need to get food on the table.
Please assist.






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