Cobra | Racing Pigeons | Mark Raubenheimer | Mount Moreland Lofts

What started out as an ordinary day at the Mount Moreland Lofts, turned out to be anything but ordinary for Mark Raubenheimer and all the pigeons that he houses here. 

The lofts which are housed outside the beautiful city of Durban, were experiencing one of the hottest days of the year with high humidity.

As all Durbanites know, the hotter and more humid the weather is, the greater the chance of coming across snakes who have emerged from their places of hiding. Being accustomed to this, Mark Raubenheimer knew that he had to be on the lookout for any of these predatory beasts. As he was conducting his rounds of the loft, he saw a slow movement from the corner of his eye. Being careful not to move too suddenly, he turned his head in the direction of the movement, and what he saw made him freeze momentarily. There lying in the corner of his loft was a massive Mozambican Cobra.

Mark knew that swift action was needed to prevent the slippery beast from attacking his precious racing pigeons and causing further damage. With his quick thinking, he quietly attracted the attention of one of his staff members. He then got the staff member to bring him a long stick. This was when the snake took notice of Mark’s presence and reared up, spitting at Mark and some of the pigeons that were close by. 

Mark’s main fear was that the snake would escape, but luckily this was not to be. Mark was able to seclude the snake until the Durban snake catcher could arrive and duly capture the venomous snake. It was then removed for relocation.

Although the cobra was detected quite quickly, it did not stop it from causing considerable damage to some of the pedigreed pigeons in the loft. These birds were successfully treated by the local vet. Though slightly traumatized, Mark recognized that the situation could have been a lot worse and is grateful for escaping this difficult situation virtually unscathed.

Contact Mark on +27837901708 or raubenheimerl.m@telkomsa.net