A Milnerton mom got a moerse skrik when she arrived home to blue lights and a Cape cobra in her yard.
The beautiful golden yellow slang, which is about 60cm long, was found curled up under a tree but had reportedly been living under a small wooden board for some time.
Homeowner Sibo Morapela said she was stunned to hear the snake had been living in her Phoenix home.
Sibo explains: “When I got home I found police vans and a lot of people standing outside my yard.
“I saw the snake and then went onto the internet to check what kind of snake it was, and I saw a cobra but I didn’t know for sure that it was a Cape cobra.”
Morapela said she then called a few snake wranglers.
She adds: “I called a company that I know could take the snake away but I was told they don’t go into the Joe Slovo area.
“Eventually someone came and removed it. He confirmed it was one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
“I decided to go back online, it was then when I realised that my children and the preschoolers next door could have been killed by this snake.
“The shock has subsided now, but this is something that was new to me. I had never heard anyone say they saw a snake in the area.”
Snake wrangler Tyrone Ping said when he received the call he jumped to the rescue.
Tyrone wyses: “She had called four or five people and no one was willing to go and help. We put ourselves at risk, so sometimes we got unfavourable areas.
“When I arrived at the house there were about 100 children, and four police vans and they had their guns drawn.
“I asked if the guns were for the people but they said it was for the snake. The cobra was sitting on an old rat’s nest, it ate all the rats that were there.
“The Cape cobra is most venomous - if bitten, one can die after an hour without medical help.”
Ping said this type of snake is one of a few that can adapt very well to their environment.
He adds: “They can be anywhere where there is food. They will come to the suburbs for water.
“They will use drainage pipes, they will move through. I took out a cobra in Buitenkant Street (Cape Town CBD), they are about anywhere and everywhere.
“I’ve been dealing with snakes for 25 years and wrote a book. They play an important purpose in the environment.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za