How Cockroach caught deadly mambas
THE brave Cockroach has done it again!
Famous snake catchers Cockroach Mdluli and his colleague Selby Chauke, from the Bushbuckridge Municipality Fire and Rescue team, captured two deadly mambas on Monday, 30 January.
One of the creatures was spotted slipping into a mango tree and rolling itself up at Nick Gumede’s yard in Thulamahashe near Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
Realising that families were in danger, they tracked both snakes and tried killing them but the mambas fought back.
“A relative was craving mangoes. But he came running back in cold fear saying he spotted the biggest snake he had ever seen between a mango tree and a chicken run,” said Nick.
“We dashed to the place but it disappeared into the tree. We later saw it curled up on a branch.
“We cornered it, but it came down and slipped under the bricks. We beat it with sticks and threw boiling water on it but it made no difference and it was getting angry.”
That’s when they realised they needed to get the best help.
“We called Cockroach and Selby,” said Nick.
Selby said: “We managed to capture both snakes and took them to the Kruger National Park. The 3,2m mamba had severe injuries after being assaulted by the residents. The other was one metre long and was caught in a mango tree. Residents are warned to keep away from mambas as they are deadly.”
Cockroach said they ensure that they put people and the creatures’ lives first.
“It’s good educating our society to respect each other as both snakes and people are precious,” he said. – Daily Sun
