We started the safari yesterday afternoon at around 16h30. Not long after we had left I received a call on the radio from our manager Yolande saying that a big snake outside Room 3’s window has been spotted. After consulting with all guests we turned the game viewer around and rushed back to the lodge to see what huge snake had decided to visit us while we were away. Arriving at the lodge I saw that there was a fairly big Snouted Cobra curled up outside the a guest’s window.
Using a broom, I attempted to coax the massive Cobra into our game drive cooler box. The serpent however had other ideas and blatantly refused to stay in the box. After a struggle of about five minutes accompanied by numerous hisses and snarls, I pinned the cobra’s head and grabbed a hold of him. At this point he feigned death and went into a completely relaxed state called Thanatosis (feigning death).
After allowing the guests to take close up photos and a brief explanation I gently put the snake into the cooler and closed the lid.
He then accompanied us on a 15 min safari until I felt that we were far enough away from the safari lodge to release him.
Cobras are territorial therefore if he was not released far enough away, there would be chance of a return visit.
We then opened the cooler and freed him to return to wild nature.
