Snake Catcher Finds Black Mamba Slithering Right Between His Legs

A snake rescuer investigating a black mamba sighting at a home in Westville, South Africa, received a nasty shock when he looked down to see the deadly reptile slithering right between his legs. Nick Evans, who founded KwaZulu-Natal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, has removed hundreds of black mambas in his career, but even he was taken aback by the encounter. "I still have absolutely no idea how I didn't see it," Evans said in a Facebook post. "Sneaky thing." The snake had been known to Evans for weeks. It had been spotted numerous times basking on a paved slab in a residential garden. But whenever he came close to it, the snake would slither off to a nearby nature reserve. "It wasn't any threat to the family," Evans said. "However, it occasionally came around the house looking for young dassies [hyraxes]. So the family were keen for it to be taken away." On Friday, Evans was called out and told that the snake was basking again. But when he arrived, the snake was gone. "It must have basked for long enough, and maybe gone hunting," he said. "Or so I thought. "I don't know what made me look down—I hadn't heard anything—but I did. Right next to my foot was the mamba, slowly slithering past my foot in the grass."

The black mamba is one of the fastest snakes in the world, and also one of the most deadly. Their bite releases a fast-acting neurotoxin that can kill a human in as little as 20 minutes.

Read more

• Man tries to take selfie with snake, gets bitten and dies
• Deadly cobra attacks, meets its match as boy bites back
• Whole Alligator found inside Burmese python in gruesome footage

They can be found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and can grow up to 14 feet long. The snakes themselves are usually gray or brown in color—the "black" in their name refers to the dark color of the insides of their mouths. Despite their aggressive reputation, black mambas are actually very shy animals. "This mamba had an easy opportunity to bite me multiple times before I'd have even known it was there," Evans said. "Did it? No. "I see so many situations where people could have easily been bitten, but the mambas choose not to. It's usually when they are being killed or captured that bites occur." When threatened, the mamba can become highly aggressive and is known to strike repeatedly, injecting large amounts of venom with each strike. As humans continue to encroach on the snakes' habitat, we are likely to see more human-snake interactions and possible fatalities. "To me, people are more dangerous," Evans previously told Newsweek. "Snakes do not want to hurt anyone. Yes, they bite people, but generally, it's out of self-defense, whether we mean to give them a reason to defend themselves or not." After grabbing the snake with his bare hands, Evans checked himself for bite marks. "I've heard of people, usually handlers, getting bitten by these snakes and not feeling it," Evans said. "But I was fine. Just very shaken up." Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about snakes? Let us know via nature@newsweek.com.