BLACK MAMBA BROUGHT TO HOSPITAL

SITEKI – A man, who had visited Good Shepherd Mission Hospital in Siteki, got the shock of his life when he discovered that he had brought with him a two-metre black mamba snake.

This happened on Saturday, just before noon, said a person familiar with the details of the matter.
The man, whose particulars were not immediately ascertained, discovered the snake inside a backpack he had brought with him to hospital.
It is said that the man didn’t know how and when the snake had slithered into his backpack, and is said to have been astounded upon discovering that he had carried the serpent all the way from home to the hospital.

Discovered

It could not be ascertained what else was inside the backpack but it is said that the snake was discovered when the man opened the backpack, apparently so as to take out some items.

It was gathered that man was able to alert hospital officials about the snake inside his backpack.
“Snake experts were called to the scene and they promptly arrived to rescue the serpent and it was removed from the backpack, much to the shock of other onlookers,” said the source.

Renowned local snake expect and anti-venom activist, Thea Litscha-Koen said she was aware of the incident, further describing the snake that was found inside the backpack as a two-metre black mamba.
Koen, who is also the co-founder of the Eswatini anti-Venom Foundation, said she was called immediately after the snake had been discovered inside the backpack.

However, since she was a bit far from the hospital, Koen said she asked one of the organisation’s volunteers to respond to the scene.
“We were very lucky to find that snake. It could have been tragic,” said Keon.

She said the snake might have slithered unnoticed into the backpack while it was opened and the man unknowingly carried the backpack to the hospital.
“It is not the first time we have found a snake in a backpack; it does happen. This is a very important lesson for people who live in an area with a lot of snakes. They have to close their backpacks,” she said.
She mentioned that recently, they discovered a Mozambican spitting cobra (imfeti) inside a bag of a young schoolgirl.

Slithered

She said the schoolgirl had placed her bag on the ground while it was opened and the Cobra slithered into the bag.
“She took the imfeti all the way to Tshaneni, and she didn’t know it was inside the bag,” said Keon, adding that the child wasn’t hurt as they managed to remove the snake.

Keon warned people in areas with a lot of snake activity to be careful and to always make sure that they close their backpacks.
She insisted that there was nothing strange with snakes slithering into backpacks.
The man who accidentally brought the black mamba to the hospital could not be reached for comment at the time of compiling this report, yesterday afternoon.

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