A large Mozambique Spitting Cobra was recently removed from Reicher Street by Ladysmith’s very own snake removal expert, Fanie Cilliers.
The homeowner told The Ladysmith Herald that it was the longest ten minutes of their lives. “It was as if time had completely stopped.” Cilliers said that this huge beauty was spotted as it tried to enter the garage. “I got out and grabbed her and as I did that everyone realised the actual size of the beast. She had a length of 1.55 metres and was extremely healthy,” said Cilliers. A Mozambique Spitting Cobra like this can produce between 18 and 35 offspring, three times a year, and as they are extremely territorial this means that between 60 to 100 new babies are added to the area. “This is the main reason they are such a successful species.” Cilliers added that they eat literally anything, from roadkill to whatever moves out there, and they are busy taking out most of the competition like harmless snakes and even Puff adders. The Mozambique Spitting Cobra was released out of town, in an area high in food and far from human interactions.
