- A Durban woman stumbled upon a puff adder on her lawn as she raked leaves.
- The snake appeared to be hiding and remained still among the leaves.
- Snake expert Nick Evans captured it safely and will release it as soon as the weather gets warmer.
A Durban woman who was raking leaves on her suburban lawn on Monday struck something "hard", which turned out to be more than she had bargained for.
KwaZulu-Natal-based snake expert Nick Evans got a call from a homeowner in the Outer West area of Durban.
"She had been raking leaves up off of her lawn when she uncovered something 'hard'. She looked more closely, and realised it was a curled-up snake," Evans said.
"She sent me a photo to confirm the snake's identity – puff adder!"
Evans said he didn't get many calls for puff adders, and was waiting for some excitement, so he rushed off to the woman's home.
"It didn't look like the snake would move. It was trying to hide under the grass. When I arrived, I was left feeling very impressed at this snake's hiding capabilities.
Incredible camouflage
"It had managed to wriggle down among the grass, leaves and sand, leaving very little of its body exposed. If the homeowner hadn't been raking, she would never have seen it. The camouflage was incredible!
"I was surprised, but I'm not sure why. This is what puff adders do. This is how they hunt, by concealing themselves and lying in wait, ready to ambush their prey," Evans said.
"In this case, though, it was just trying to escape the cold as best as possible. It could easily have been stepped on."
Evans said he had heard about a study which concluded that, more often than not, puff adders won't strike, even if one should step near one.
"I reckon someone could have stepped on this snake and it wouldn't have flinched."
But this all changed when Evans pulled it out with a hook.
"It would strike whenever it felt I got too close and didn't like me at all. It's a nice-sized female specimen, which I'll release on the next warm day," Evans added.
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