The term Ophidiophobia is used to describe an extreme fear of snakes. Harrison Ford famously depicts the phobia as Indiana Jones and even has a snake named after him. But even if you aren't Ophidiophobic, the potential of a cobra lurking in your toilet is enough to make you look twice before you sit down.
Videos by Wide Open Country
According to a South African snake removal company,
Stellenbosch Snake Removals, a lodge required their services to remove a cobra from the premises. Stellenbosch Snake Removals posted about the incident on Facebook on February 25, complete with a video of the operation.The company explained that a guest spotted a cobra entering the lodge bathroom. However, the snake was nowhere to be found during their first pass. The snake remover peered into every toilet with an endoscope camera, finding the cobra lurking in the last stall they checked.
[
See the video here]Staff at the company make removing the snake look easy, although they stress it's a difficult task. The video shows the snake coiled up inside the toilet on the endoscope camera screen. The cistern had to be removed to retrieve it. Once the snake is free of its porcelain prison, the handler holds it by the tail and directs it into a tube to safely remove it from the lodge.
Professionals Identify The Venomous Snake As A Cape Cobra
According to Stellenbosch Snake Removals, the snake found at the lodge was a Cape Cobra.
The company explains it's 'by far our most dangerous cobra,' responsible for many fatal snake bites in South Africa along with the Black Mamba. Cape Cobra's venom can reportedly be neurotoxic, potentially causing weakness and rapid breathing. The post on Facebook concludes, "Victims need urgent hospitalization, and in a severe bite, antivenom is essential.
Per NatureReserve, the Cape Cobra is one of the most dangerous snakes in the country. It shares that title alongside the Black Mamba, Puff Adder, and Boomslang.
Snakes hiding in toilets is the sort of event horror movies are made out of for some people, but we recently reported on one hiding in another unusual place. A woman in New Hampshire found a Cat-eyed snake at a grocery store hiding among some bananas. The Cat-eyed snake is only mildly venomous and far less dangerous than a Cape Cobra. The banana stowaway likely hitched a ride over from Ecuador. A Snake and Reptile house in the area gave it a new home.
