Huge Black Mambas Found Mating Beneath Woman's Front Door

Two huge black mambas were found mating beneath a woman's front door in South Africa.

Snake catcher Nick Evans—who owns a snake removal business in the Greater Durban area—said in a Facebook post that on June 2 he had received a "most exciting call."

Evans arrived at the property, where he had removed several black mambas in recent weeks.

Black mambas are the longest venomous snakes in Africa, with a bite that could kill a person in under 30 minutes. The species is usually shy and will not attack unless directly provoked. However, as humans expand into areas where the snakes live, and create conditions suitable for black mamba prey, conflicts do occur.

Working with herpetologist Cormac Price, Evans peered beneath the homeowner's front door, and was "amazed" at what he saw.

"A pair of mambas cuddling! What a privilege to see something like this!" Evans said in a Facebook post. "We couldn't admire it for long, as they were going to go under the building."

A picture captured by Evans and posted to Facebook shows the two venomous snakes intertwined. Evans used a pair of very long tongs to remove the snakes, who were just out of reach.

"I reached down, grabbed the smaller one, brought it back up and passed it to Cormac. He held it with his tongs, while I went for the other," Evans said.

Evans then grabbed the female, and brought it down from its hiding place. Evans said this one was "much larger" and "furious."

"She wouldn't reverse into the tongs for me, and tried thrashing around. I managed to get her in the bucket with the tongs on the front quarter, and my left hand on the tail. Not a method I usually use, but I had space for a change," Evans said.

The female snake was around 8.2 feet long, while the smaller male was around 6.5 feet.

Once Evans had captured the angry mamba, he went to help Price in securing the other one.

It wasn't the first time Evans had removed snakes from this property in recent weeks.

Evans arrived there on May 4 to remove a female black mamba, which had been found in the same place as the two mating snakes.

Not long afterwards, Evans was called there again to move two males in the same spot. During mating season, situations such as this aren't uncommon. Male snakes will be attracted to the scent of a female, causing several to be drawn to the same spot.

"Five mambas at that property now, and I'm sure there will be at least one more male, following the scent of that female," Evans said.

The snake catcher said the snakes were removed and relocated.

"Every mamba we catch is very beneficial to our research, for the data we get off it, so that's convenient for us...Capturing snakes in such situations helps us learn more about their behavior," he said. "For me it was quite interesting to find another female exactly where another was, in mating season."

Evans said it had been "a really special call."

Correction 06/07/2022 3.17 a.m. ET: This article has been corrected to say black mambas are Africa's longest venomous snake and updated to include additional context.