Four dogs died after being bitten by a black mamba at a Durban house, while a group of men carrying a dead python on a pole had motorists on the N2 transfixed.
|||Durban - Four dogs died after a battle with a black mamba in Reservoir Hills while a group of men carrying a dead python on a pole had motorists transfixed on the N2 near eMkhomazi (Umkomaas).
In Reservoir Hills, Krish Govender, 67, said he had gone into his back yard to polish his bakkie on Friday morning when he noticed his three Jack Russell dogs - Jackie, Destiny and Tia - barking ferociously in the direction of the grates over the drain near the garage.
His dachshund, Tyson, then joined them as they circled between the inlet and outlet grates.
Govender, a retired policeman and professional hunter, said he didn’t think much of it.
“I could not see inside the drain pipe unless I picked up the grates. I thought a crab was inside because of the old stream in the back yard. I placed the hose over the drain and opened the water to flush out whatever was inside twice in the space of an hour.
The dogs were going ballistic and kept sniffing around it,” Govender said.
At midday, Govender went inside to have a glass of water. His dogs, which normally follow him everywhere, stayed behind, still barking.
While inside, his dog began barking in a tone Govender was not accustomed to.
“I rushed down the driveway and could see a snake under the bakkie. Its head was moving from side to side. The dogs were trying to get at it.
The dachshund lay under the bakkie immobilised. It was a madhouse. My dogs eventually backed off. I asked my wife to watch the snake’s movements while I contacted a reptile specialist,” Govender said.
Meanwhile, his dogs had begun frothing at the mouth and walking around in a daze.
The dachshund was still under the bakkie.
The snake had moved to the corner of the yard near a plank and brick wall by the time Universal Reptiles snake catcher, Jason Arnold, arrived.
“The dogs had already succumbed to the extremely fast-acting neurotoxic (nerve attacking) envenomation. The homeowner pointed out to me the pile of household bits and pieces where the snake had taken refuge,” Arnold said.
He carefully removed items from the pile and found the snake badly hurt and exhausted.
“Upon exposing it, it just lay there and made no attempt to try to get away or defend itself further.
“The male snake measured 2.6m and had sustained dozens of dog bites along the full length of its body... It probably sustained heavy bruising, several broken ribs and possibly damaged organs and internal bleeding,†Arnold said.
He removed the snake to his enclosures, but the Mamba died on Sunday.
Govender said the dogs were bitten on their back legs, mouth and body.
They died on the driveway and were buried in the back yard. Govender was too emotional and was not yet ready to visit their graves.
“Destiny was 7 years old. Jackie was 5 and his daughter, Tia, was just a pup. My heart is sore. They were like my children. I brought them up from puppies. I have been dreaming of them since Friday,” Govender said.
Govender is, however, relieved that he had kept his pit bull, Trigger, chained, otherwise he fears he would have lost him too.
He said that had he seen the snake earlier, he would have chained up his dogs.
In other serpent news, a family from the South Coast were travelling towards Durban on the N2 freeway when they spotted two men with a huge African Rock Python, coiled around a wooden pole balancing on their shoulders.
A group of people were following them as well as goats and hunting dogs as they walked in the grassy centre median between Illfracombe and eMkhomazi.
Yolandi Pearce, her husband and two children were curious to know if what they had seen was indeed a python.
They took an off-ramp ahead and rejoined the N2 freeway heading south again.
They took the next off ramp and headed back on the N2 towards Durban and stopped alongside the group.
“The group stopped for five minutes to allow motorists to capture pictures. The rock python was dead. It was an amazing experience and an adrenalin rush. I guess we were just being curious,” Pearce said.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za
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