Look! There’s a snake in my bag

Police officers are there to protect and serve, but perhaps they can be forgiven for running away when a Gqeberha man recently walked into the Kabega Park police station with a slithering companion.

And while one would think they have heard it all, nothing could prepare the officers in the charge office for what they were presented with.

This was because a caring man had shown up with a venomous Puffadder in a plastic bag, asking for help.

When the officers in blue realised they were out of their depth, there was only one person to call — professional snake handler Mark Marshall.

Known around town as the snake whisperer, Marshall said he received a call from a police officer to say that a man had shown up at the station with a snake. 

According to Marshall, the man had decided to place the snake in a bag after he caught it on the front porch of his daughter’s house in Sherwood.

“When I arrived, he was casually standing there holding the snake in a plastic bag.

“I reacted immediately because I knew the Puffadder could bite through that bag,” Marshall said.

Marshall said the man then told him the story of how he had caught the snake, and decided to bag it, because he did not want to cause the snake any harm.

“He drove with the snake from Sherwood to the Kabega Park police station.

“Along the way, he partially opened the top of the bag so that the snake would not suffocate.

“I am surprised that he managed to get the snake into the bag in the first place and relieved that he is OK, because I know the Puffadder would have put up a massive fight.”

Marshall cautioned residents to call a professional snake handler and not capture snakes themselves.

Marshall said the snake would be released at a nature reserve.

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