NICHOLAS Peter Pillay is lucky to be alive after being bitten by a venomous Stiletto snake at his home in Malvern last Monday.
Pillay, a radio jock on Lotus FM, had returned home from work with his fiancée when they encountered the snake.
"We got out of our vehicle and my fiancée saw it. She screamed 'snake' and I went around the car to check. It was lying curled on our driveway. At first I thought it was a common brown house snake."
He said he took a video of the snake before trying to pick it up with a broom.
"It was dark and I thought I was picking it up by the tail but it was the head. As I picked it up it struck me on the hand. It felt two sharp pokes."
He said he then threw the snake into nearby bushes.
"Shortly after, I posted the video on a group on the Snakes in Durban Facebook page for people to help me identify it. A snake expert told me it was a Stiletto snake."
Pillay said he began researching the name and only then realised how venomous it was.
"I found out that the Stiletto snake was common in KwaZulu-Natal. It has cytotoxic venom that causes severe pain, swelling, blistering and tissue damage."
He said he was advised by the snake expert to monitor his hand and if any of the symptoms appeared, he should go to the hospital.
"I waited about half an hour and none of the symptoms showed. I realised I had thankfully suffered a dry bite."
Pillay said there had been several sightings of green and black mambas in the area.
"We tend to see them come out when it is really hot like the weather we are currently experiencing, and when it rains heavily."
Nick Evans, a snake rescuer, advised residents not to panic.
"Snakes are on the move as a result of the heat wave. November and the rest of summer is always a busy time for snakes. There is a slim chance that they may enter homes on hot days. Most of the snakes we catch are outside."
"It is not mating season for Green Mambas, but it is egg-laying season. The chance of you seeing a gravid, pregnant, Green Mamba, is incredibly slim, particularly if you do not live next to the coast. You'd have to be really lucky, only a few people do. They are not common snakes."
He said some snakes were nocturnal hunters.
"There are many diurnal (active during the day) species. While you read about me and other snake removers catching venomous snakes in properties, the majority of species we are talking about are non-venomous."
He said Durban was a big place with many homes.
"Snakes are not seen in every home every day. I urge residents not to panic although I do understand that it is easier said than done."