A snake-catcher has outwitted a deadly black mamba that sought refuge from an angry crowd by slithering into the engine compartment of a car in Durban.

The two-meter-long reptile caused a commotion among shoppers when it slithered under a black Golf in the city’s CBD on Saturday. Hundreds of people‚ some carrying sticks and stones‚ descended on the parked car.

Jason Arnold from Universal Reptiles received a desperate plea for help from the owner of the vehicle. “When I got to the scene hundreds of people had already gathered‚” said Arnold on Monday.

“I never had that before. When you go into areas like a township‚ you normally have quite a few onlookers because everybody gets word of what’s happening and they come and have a look. But I’ve never had it to that extent. I have never had to call the police to keep people away‚” he said.

Police arrived and cordoned off the area while Arnold searched for the snake. But‚ with all of the noise from onlookers and passing traffic‚ it remained hidden.

The next best option was to have the vehicle taken to a quieter place. It was loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken to the owner’s home in Newlands West.

“I knew that the snake would come out now. I thought that I would just have a quick look to see if it had moved during the towing process. I thought that If I didn’t find it then I would just sit and watch and wait for the snake to come out on its own accord‚” explained Arnold.

He opted to lift the car bonnet for a peek and immediately spotted the Black Mamba coiled up inside. Slowly pulling the snake bit by bit‚ he finally managed to wrestle it from its hiding place.

“The owner of the car was calm throughout the ordeal. He was actually concerned about the car and the snake. When he phoned me‚ he pleaded with me to come because the people were going mad. He said if the snake were to come out they would kill it. They were standing behind his car with sticks and stones‚ which frightened him.”