Big was the surprise of a Gqeberha family when a 1.8 meter Cape Cobra slithered her way into their Rowallan Park home on Tuesday afternoon.
The Cape Cobra is regarded as one of the most venomous and dangerous snakes in Africa.
Upon noticing the unwelcome visitor, the family knew just what to do, and that was making the call to the city's resident snake catcher, Mark Marshall of Sandula Conservation.
At the time, kids were playing on their bunk beds while their mother was laying on another bed.
Marshall said he was in a grocery store when he got a call from a woman who told him that a "big snake" crawled into one of her bedrooms.
He asked the woman to send him a photo to try and determine which type of snake it was.
Upon viewing her short video, Marshall could not determine the species but thought it was a harmless mole snake.
He instructed the family to close the bedroom door and to put down a towel to ensure the snake did not escape.
"When I arrived, we could not find the snake at first.
"I decided to lift the bedding and move the bed away from the wall to look underneath the bed.
"Between the back of the bed and the wall, the Cobra was curled up there.
"I saw this monster Cobra just look at me. Wow," Marshall recalled the encounter.
He said despite her size, the snake was extremely calm and made no attempts to attack him.
Marshall gently put the snake onto the bed and hooked her tail with his stick.
She curled her tail onto his wrist and showed a slight resistance while being lowered into the bucket.
"She was absolutely gentle and beautiful," he said.
Marshall told Algoa FM News that Cape Cobras were very active in Gqeberha this time of the year.
Tuesday's call out was the fifth Cape Cobra that made their way into a residential home.
"During the other incident one was hiding underneath a washing machine and the other in a house in Despatch," he said.
Should they encounter a snake, residents are advised to call a registered snake catcher and not try to capture it themselves.
It is also helpful to close the door to the room that the snake is in, to make sure that it does not escape.
