Interesting Cobra Capture!

Another exciting snake rescue from earlier on in the year!

We were called out to a game farm in Hluhluwe for a cobra in a tree. It was next to a dirt track whic...h workers walk past often and the owners wanted it removed for their safety. On arrival, with my good friends Jamie and Lyndsay from the U.K, we spotted the snake in a hollow branch. It was a Forest Cobra, a commonly encountered snake in Zululand.

I climbed up the tree to try and get the snake out of the hollow branch. The owner said to me, "there's a few bees around, becareful". I hadn't noticed any so didn't take much notice. But as I climbed onto the hollow branch that the cobra was in, bees started flying out of holes in the branch! There was a bee hive in the same branch! After a few stings I jumped out of the tree and kept a safe distance!

Luckily, the manager of the lodge next door had a bee suit. Unfortunately, it was only the top half! And I was as always, wearing khaki shorts and barefoot!

I went back up the tree anyway and the comical suit was helping a lot. We then tried sawing the branch off to make things easier, but it was no easy task! After giving up after a short while, I attempted to poke the snake with a hook stick to encourage him to come out. It was a sight to behold, melting in the hot bee suit with colourful language being spoken while the bees were swarming around me.

Luckily, Jamie and Lyndsay were brave enough to come and help with no protection from the bees! The snake was starting to come out and Lyndsay managed to get it out of the hollow branch with a hook, while Jamie held onto it with tongs to prevent it from escaping while I got down and managed to get a hold of it. We finally got it out of the tree and safely into a bucket!

All round it was great fun and we all had a good laugh, with the snake and everyone unharmed! An experience to remember!

Thanks to Jamie and Lyndsay for their help!