FRANCE-SNAKE-VENOM-WORLD-MEDICINE
A picture taken on June 24, 2016 shows a Dendroaspis Polylepis (black mamba) snake at the nursery of the Venom World company in Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes, near Paris. - Venom World breeds venomous animals to extract venoms for medical and pharmaceutical purposes.
(Photo : Photo by ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)

One of Africa's lethally venomous snakes was found lurking in between the walls of a home in South Africa. A gardener in Reservoir Hills reported it right away after hearing something moving between the walls of a storeroom.

Snake catcher and rescuer Nick Evans from Greater Durban spotted the highly venomous Black Mamba snake, lurking in the darkness, as per Newsweek.

According to Evans, the serpent could have bitten or attacked any person in its way, but "did not bite him" and "got as much of a fright as he did."

"He bolted out the room, as anyone would do," Evans said on Facebook. "There were no lights in the rooms, and it was now dark outside as well."

Generally, biting incidents from Black Mambas are relatively rare in Greater Durban and they usually only get aggressive when threatened or provoked.

They may be fearsome species, but they usually hide rather than attack most of the time.

However, they have been blamed for numerous human deaths. If they do bite in a given unfortunate circumstance, their bite has a fatality rate of 100% if left untreated.

Africa's Longest and Fastest Snake

Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is widely considered as the world's deadliest snake, according to the National Geographic, for some particular reason.

They are Africa's longest venomous snake, growing up to 14 feet in length, and also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour.

Moreover, they are actually brown in color and only got their name from the blue-black of the inside of their mouths, which shows when threatened.

Luckily, as Evans arrived at the home to remove the snake, he didn't have to see amidst the dark to locate it, as he heard movement from above.

As per his description, the snake was on the ceiling board, between that and the corrugated iron, where it could not be accessed.

The only option he had was to break the ceiling board.

Also read: Rare Sight: Whale Gives Birth to a Calf Off the Coast of South Africa

Chances of Revisiting

Black mambas live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa, but may have wandered in close contact to humans due to encroachment on their territory.

The recent sighting in Reservoir Hills was identified as a female mamba, which could have a chance of other male snakes visiting, since it is currently the snakes' mating season in South Africa, which falls in spring and early summer.

According to Young People's Trust for the Environment (YPTE), males travel long distances looking for females and can smell them from miles away.

As of now, Evans suggests that homeowners should not be going into that room for a while.

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