06/06/2026
4 Black Mambas in a roof, mating season.
With the end of May, June and July being Mamba mating season our Black Mambas, especially the males are on the move.
Slithering after females, going to a house of a friend of mine a good couple of times, as he has an abandoned house next to him.
There has always been a very big Black Mamba there that has avoided Jason Arnold and myself and played a game of hide and seek. With it coming into winter, I thaught maybe we would get a call for a Mamba at the same house. So I gave my friend a call to see if he could keep an eye out if there was any Mamba action on the roof, and he informed me that they had been seeing a very large Mamba over the last few days. With him not being too fond of snakes he asked if we could come and have a look and see if we could find it. Not even 10 minutes later he gave us a call stating there was a large Black Mamba on the roof. So Helen and I quickly drove over there to see if we could find it. But unfortunately with the roof being damaged by the fire, and me being a bit on the big side, I couldn't gain access to the roof even though I could see the Mamba gaping at me over a burnt beam. So I called Jason Arnold for assistance. I quickly went and dropped Helen off at home and headed back out to the property and waited for Jason. As Jason has been the side of the roof before that I couldn't get into, as he is half my size, he discovered there wasn't just one but 2 Mambas staring at him. Jason being a featherweight, decided after a lot of banging and tapping on the ceiling, that it would be a good idea to get them from the roof tile side. And low and behold he lifted a couple of roof tiles and there they were.
With me being ground control, and Jason being catcher, a bitof good team work paid off. Jason managed to subdue 2very big Mambas a male and a female.
Jason did a quick check of the roof to see if there were any more, but with no luck.
We headed back to my house for some quick measurements and a cup of coffee.
The next morning.
So having thaught we got the only 2 Mambas in the roof, the next morning I got a phone call once again from my friend who said there was another large Black Mamba on the roof. Without hesitation I phoned Jason and asked him to please meet me there. While waiting for Jason to arrive, catching glimpses of the Mambas here and there,getting gapped at and hissed at and once again in the horrible piece of roof I can not get into, I was basically the guard at the entry and exit point while waiting for Jason to arrive. Thank goodness he finally arrived as I was balancing on a ladder, almost dying from the cramps in my calves. Thanks Jason for teaching me the art of patience. Hearing Jason shout for me was a relief. He quickly got up on the roof, opened the exact same tiles as he did the night before, and there it was another Mamba. We quickly measured the Mamba and put it in a bucket. I followed Jason back up onto the roof, as I did hear and see the 2 males fighting in the roof.
So on the opposite side of the roof where I could stand, Jason went onto the damaged roof opened a couple of tiles and there was another Mamba, another big male.
Well that's 4 Mambas in one roof in a period of 24 hours. I just like to say a big thank you to Jason Arnold for coming to my rescue, and always being willing to be a team player.
A big thank you to Nick Evans- Snake Rescuer for coming straight to my house after coming back from Richards bay to measure and tag the Mambas for the research. The Mambas range from 2.55 meters to 2 72 meters long and one heavy weight male weighing in at 2.9kgs.
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