This photo is not the best but it shows a good story.
At SnakeCity we are often called to remove snakes from homes or work places around Johannesburg.
On this day I was called to a factory in a Town called Germiston, just east of Johannesburg. A snake was seen going into the hole in the picture. To lure it out I used a dead day old chick. I rubbed it up against the hole to give its sent. Then I put the dead chick about 15 cm in front of the hole and waited patiently. You have to sit( or stand) dead still. The slightest move by yourself may cause the snake to retreat and not come out at all.
Sure enough, after about 10 minutes of waiting, the snake thought it was safe to investigate the food on offer and came out of the hole long enough for me to pin it behind the head and safely get a hold on it.
With the rest of its body still in the hole it grips on by bending its body and tries to retreat back into the hole. You can't just pull it out as you will injure the snake. And so you start a game of gentle but firm tug of war.
You maintain a firm grip and pull as hard as to not cause harm to the snake, the snake pulls back but soon tires and you are able to pull it from the hole inch by inch. It can sometimes take as long as half an hour to get the whole snake out the hole! In this case it was a 60 cm Rinkhals. One of the Deadly Dozen snakes of South Africa. It is the most common Venomous snakes in Johannesburg and one of three species of South African snakes that can spit their venom. Each year we remove about 50 of them. We release them is suitable habitat outside of built up areas.
