Over the past few weeks, a family residing in the Qinisa area in Pieters has been plagued with the loss of livestock, especially small goats. Suspecting that they were the victims of stock theft, they reported the matter to police, however, on Sunday evening, 6 March, a scaly suspect was caught red-handed in the goat pen.
The livestock owner made the slithery discovery when he went in to investigate after hearing goats moaning and groaning in their pen. The owner at first explained that he was in a state of shock and then realised that he needed the expert experience of snake catcher, Fanie Cilliers. Cilliers, who is the owner of Ladysmith Snake Removal, arrived at the scene of the ‘reptile’ crime before jumping into snake-catching action. “I was expecting a small snake but on closer inspection, I knew this was going to be a thriller of a catch.” Cilliers said that he jumped into the pen and a power wrestle began between him and the scaly beast. “I was completely drained, with shaking arms, but managed to wrestle the beauty into submission and then took her back to the car for bagging.” After doing his measurements and records, Cilliers reported that the African Rock Python is a female weighing in at 29.8kg with a length of 4.4 metres. “She is in an extremely healthy condition and what a beauty,” said Cilliers. The African Rock Python was safely released.
