Highly venomous snake caught swimming at Durban beach

By Jolene Marriah-Maharaj

A highly venomous boomslang sought relief from the Durban heat at Winklespruit beach this weekend.

The snake was found swimming in the waves at the beach which is South of Durban.

According to Durban snake catcher Nick Evans, he received a call from a policeman and thereafter a photograph of the “green snake.”

“I immediately knew it was a boomslang and headed down there.”

Evan said when he arrived at the beach the snake, approximately 1,5 metres long, was swimming on the edge of the waves.

“At some point it even went into the sea to swim in the waves.

“The snake was very disorientated and confused and absolutely exhausted.”

Evans said it was just being washed in the waves.

He said he was uncertain how the snake got onto the beach.

“I then caught the snake and released it into a patch of bush where hopefully it will be happy.”

Evans said boomslangs were highly venomous snakes, but also very docile creatures.

“If left alone they won’t harm anyone, but if someone tries to catch it or kill it then that’s another story.

“A boomslang on a beach in not ideal because of dogs who are not on leads and obviously the amount of people on the beach.

“For the safety of people and the snake it’s best to remove them from the beach.”

In the past few months Durban snake catchers have had their hand fulls rescuing black mambas from homes and businesses in Durban. POST