Deadly venomous Black mambas in the city, snake rescuer Nick Evans talks about his job

Nick Evans is a snake rescuer living in Durban, South Africa. He works hard to mitigate the human-snake conflict in the city. Here he talks about his work spent mostly working with snakes, often deadly venomous. Nick often rescues Black mambas (Dendroaspis polylepis). This species is the most feared snake of Africa, but Nick thinks that they are not as scary as people think. He also often encounters Mozambique spitting cobras (Naja mossambica), Rhombic night adders (Causus rhombeatus) and Bibron's stiletto snakes (Atractaspis bibronii). Even though his work might seem terrifying, he is more relaxed around snakes than around people due to the high crime rate in South Africa. Snakebite is surprisingly rare in Durban, partly thanks to Nick's great work!

Follow Nick on his social media and watch his videos!
FB: Nick Evans - Snake Rescuer
Instagram: @nick_evans_snake_rescuer
YouTube: @nickevans-snakerescuer1973

[russellthompson]

I rescued snakes in CT and West Virginia. I'm here to help.this dude is absolutely essential to preserve the future and life of or beautiful reptiles. Awesome work nick

[ca]

I used to follow Nick on Facebook before I left that toxic swamp in 2021...he always responded to comments and always posted some great rescues...glad to see he`s still at it and doing well...
I now live in the UK but grew up on the East Rand in Johannesburg, we went through a period in the mid to late 1980`s where we were constantly getting Rinkals (Hemachatus haemachatus) in our garden or in neighbors gardens, my brother became quite good at catching them and relocating them back to a large veld that was a few kilometers from where we lived...he said that it was always when the rains came and the frog population got higher that they seemed to appear...
That species of snake still fascinates me to this day...

[bruceu]

This gentleman Nick is very brave for handling deadly snakes and rescuing them. I like snakes a lot more than I used to thanks to Matej and Zuzana, but I can't imagine getting so close to a black mamba.

[GreenichViper]

Thanks Matej and Zuzana for this episode -really nice, long and informative interview with Nick, who makes a stellar job. I hope his financial situation turns for the better - if people were just investing half of what the eventual snake bite treatment in the hospital would cost into his work, his job (from the financial security perspective) would be made so much easier. Thanks everyone involved for this episode!

[najamossambica]

I have come across Nick Evans' posts on Instagram several times now. I now know the man behind the name. It's sad to hear about the problems he encounters in his work and what people do in fear of snakes. All the more important is his work. Thanks to him! 💚

[Intrudr]

Really good episode, thanks for that. What a cool guy.

[virvoy]

I remember watching a documentary ages ago where African tribesmen were stuffing puff adders into their mouths, one guy had about 10 or so in his gob at the same time & the adders weren't small, big fat serpents that could have done serious damage, obviously entertainment for the tourists...PS. I also wanted to say how very interesting this interview was with Nick Evans, such a down to earth guy without any pretense whatsoever, You are offering a great service to the people of Durban, please post more videos if you can, you had my attention the whole time throughout this interview, totally engrossing personal bio, I was hoping for more but you covered your life and snake handling skills & it was all fascinating, keep up the good work Nick, looking forward to watching more...

[michaelmayhood]

Thanks Again! Right on and cool stuff!

[johnrambo]

Ein hervorragender Kanal. Gleichfalls dieser Beitrag!! DANKE.

[roelien]

We encountered a Puffadder, Boomslang and Nag adder: they ALL wanted to get away from us! They do not want to attack.
We caught them and released them in nature parks. But because we live close to a cliff, we keep our eyes open

[blakkat]

This was a very interesting and informative video.

[virvoy]

Nick, Amazing video and the work that you do should be a paid position by by either the state or @ least local govt. this type of service is much too important not to be recognized, please don't get me started on the upper echelons of power, I sincerely hope your situation improves for 2024, you seem very personable and know about the business of handling snakes especially mamba's, the way you put them in the bucket and just let go of your hand gave me the horrors, that coffin shaped head and black mouth is awesome, the stuff of nightmares, All the very best & Thanks again... Anyone reading this in the halls of government in Durban, PLEASE pay this man, NOW!!!

[freedomm]

I'm in Kenya, not South Africa, but this is still relevant. I don't know why South Africa appears to have more snake intrusions than Kenya.

[williammeyer]

Excellent, thanks for all the good work.

[MayaRampersadh]

Nick, u r doing a gr8 job, so much mamba around an u r always ther to catch it 4 the peoples safety I always admire u., but u must always take all safety precautions, i c u with slips, no gloves, that not safe, may the good lord always hv his protective hands upon u.., , 🙏🙏

[Rikki-Tikki-Tavi]

Its really crazy that he and others like him have to wrangle their own funding! I realize that there's probably a great descrepency between those who could easily pay and those that cant at all, but there's got to be some way of charging folks fairly - especially for calls that turn out to be a waste of time and gas because the snake is gone or was never there in the first place. Ideally this would be a government funded service; like an extension of classic wildlife management.

[daleenalberts]

Thanks for this video. Nick is well known for his work. Sad that he struggles financially. We all fight this battle in RSA. 🎉🎉

[spokenme]

The coffin heads are gorgeous snakes. The flightiness is worrying but understandable. I’d be angry too if someone sprayed bug spray at me. I just glad our only Elapids are shy. The pit vipers are enough to worry about.

[faithnaidoo]

"Snakes are the least of concerns".Wow.I lived most of my life in rural KZN.I feel fortunate to be still alive!!!.Yes I agree that they should be left alone!!!.I came across these venomous slithering everywhere you go.Its snake area.I am so grateful I don't live in KZN anymore but the trauma of being bitten is still in me.I still look around for snakes in my house and garden even though there are none.😅😅😅

[JoziGB]

Snakes avoid people, but people don’t avoid people