[ominous music]
NARRATOR: In Africa, there are four species of Mamba.
Three of them are green, beautiful and deadly.
But the fourth is both aggressive and fast,
the Black Mamba.
Named for its pitch black mouth, this Mamba is equally at home
in trees and on the ground.
It grows up to 12 feet long and can be as thick as a man’s arm.
It’s one of the fastest venomous snakes in the world.
It can speed along at 12 miles per hour and strike
in less than a second.
When it strikes, it pumps both neurotoxic and hemotoxic venom
into its prey.
The neurotoxic venom causes nearly instant death.
And the hematoxic venom begins the digestive process
before the victim is even dead.
A person bitten has only minutes to get antivenom–
often not an option.
[rock music]
In South Africa, these deadly snakes have been
known to invade people’s homes.
And that’s when snake expert Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett
are called to the scene.
How are you doing?
He said it’s– it’s black.
It’s–
It’s showing up right in the house.
Yes, sir, it is.
It’s this side.
So where’s your children?
The children are inside still?
No, you got them out.
Oh, you got them out.
OK.
NARRATOR: As professional snake catchers,
Simon and Siouxsie are called to capture snakes
and return them to the wild.
Right.
Let’s move everything from there in–
NARRATOR: And no calls are more dangerous than those
involving a Black Mamba.
I’m going to check here first.
He’s not here.
I’ll go check that.
There it is.
Whoa, here we go.
OK.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: Ah.
All right, now we know what we’re dealing with–
a great big Black Mamba.
Yeah, that’s huge.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: It’s big.
SIMON KEYS: That’s huge.
It’s all right there for the time being.
It’s found somewhere to hide.
What could have happened is that snake came in
and obviously scared the kids.
And they ran and locked themselves in the bathroom.
That snake would also be scared.
It could have gone back out the door, but it hasn’t.
It’s gone and hid in there.
That’s fine.
That’s cool.
I’m glad it’s here because now we
can make sure we catch it and take it far
away so it doesn’t come back.
And that is quite a big Mamba.
That’s– I’m guessing it’s at least 8 foot long,
probably a bit more.
Right, that’s going to be fun because it’s
wrapped itself in a bottle.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Their goal– to remove the snake before it has
a chance to harm anyone and release it back in the wild,
hopefully without getting bit themselves.
SIMON KEYS: He’s wedging himself in the back there.
That’s cool.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: He’s disappearing now.
SIMON KEYS: Sioux, is that hook behind you?
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: No.
Yeah.
SIMON KEYS: Squeeze the hook.
OK.
[suspenseful music]
[exhales forcefully]
Right, I need to get there.
I’ll try and just loop a bit of its body out.
I’ll get the tongs in it.
But this bit is very low down, I think.
And I don’t want to get too let down
because then we’ve got 6 foot of– or more
of Black Mamba ready to come towards us.
Don’t want to go there.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: You can’t come–
I need that bit, yeah.
OK, that’s a little better.
All these bloody bottles.
Sorry, snake.
That is huge.
All right, OK, all right.
Sioux, get ready.
That thing could actually–
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: It’s blocking me in.
SIMON KEYS: All right, snake.
It’s all right.
I’ve got it.
Not great like that.
You get– SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I’m quite low.
SIMON KEYS: I’m going to let that tape–
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I will. I’m quite low.
I’m very low because he’s big.
Just slowly.
OK, I got another one.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I need to go out more.
He’s wedged.
SIMON KEYS: Wait.
See, I can actually get in there to nick it.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: Well, I need to go up more.
SIMON KEYS: No. Watch out.
I’m gonna let it go.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: OK, well, I’m quite–
SIMON KEYS: Oh, wait. All right, let me get that.
OK.
No, I’m off.
Right, don’t let go.
No, I’m low down.
I’m not–
I can’t actually see what I’m doing here.
Dangerous, very dangerous.
OK, I got it.
I got it.
Drives me crazy.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: OK, I’m letting go.
SIMON KEYS: Yeah, you can let go.
Just hold this.
OK, now I need to get it out of here.
All right, snake, go on.
OK, let’s get all of you.
All right.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: He’s really wedged in.
I know. Forcing himself.
He doesn’t want to come with us. [snake hissing]
SIMON KEYS: Oh, all right, all right.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: Listen, can you
go to one side with the head, and then
I’ll do the body because–
He’s strong, eh?
Hold that.
That’s it.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: There we go.
[non-english speech]
What is that?
[non-english speech]
SIMON KEYS: Yo, its a big thing, eh?
It’s huge.
[non-english speech]
SIMON KEYS: We should actually measure this one.
It’s huge.
Just stretch it out roughly, Sioux.
I’ll get a tape measure on it, I think.
It’s huge.
Probably one of the biggest we’ve caught.
SIMON KEYS: One of them, yeah. It’s a big one.
[chatter]
Oh, I don’t know if she’s going to fit in our bag.
She’ll go.
Use one of the white ones.
All right.
I’m going to put it in the shade because he’s overheating.
There, there.
One little bite from this thing, they’d be racing to hospital–
so dangerous.
This is extremely dangerous what I’m doing.
Because if I slip, the snake’s more than likely
going to bite me, more than likely
going to bite Sioux and then anyone else in the vicinity.
So I’m just going to concentrate on what I’m doing.
The tail end, if you can undo the tail–
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I’m trying.
SIMON KEYS: Take her.
All right, here we go.
Wait a minute.
I can’t see.
She’s big.
She’s huge.
And she is trying to get out of here.
So try and do it as quick as you can.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I am, babe, but she’s fighting against me.
SIMON KEYS: That’s it. Go.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: No, I’m still not in.
SIMON KEYS: She is strong.
OK.
No, push down more. Push down more.
A little more, go a little more.
Watch out there.
That’s where the fangs are probably going
to come through in a second.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I need her down more.
SIMON KEYS: Go quickly.
I’m losing my grip.
SIOUXSIE GILLETT: I know, babe.
The tape is twisted.
All right, you have to move your hand.
I’m going down there. SIMON KEYS: That will do.
That will do. SIOUXSIE GILLETT: The tape is–
I’m going to let go.
It’s coming out of my hands.
[snake hissing]
SIMON KEYS: You don’t play with that thing too much, right.
Thank you, guys. SIOUXSIE GILLETT: Goodbye.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
SIMON KEYS: No problem.
Just stay clear.
We didn’t expect to see a big snake like this.
SIMON KEYS: Big snake. MAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SIMON KEYS: Big, big, big.
[tense music]
