A snake that terrorised villagers for the past week was finally killed at Tshikombani Village, west of Sibasa, at the weekend.

Villagers say the serpent killed two cows and countless chickens before its reign of terror ended on Saturday.

The snake was finally nabbed at Tshikombani Steel & Welding chicken shed, when it was busy enjoying chicken eggs. Community members tried to stone it but it was very powerful adn they decided to call pest controllers to the scene.

Pest controller Chillboy Rathando said he received a call from the owner of the yard, Mr Phinias Lusunzi, when he was at Sibasa. "He told me there was a vicious snake at his yard and I told him to leave it alone until I arrived." Chillboy said he arrived minutes later and realized that the serpent was a dangerous snake, called Mbeda. "I instructed everyone to move away and I went straight to the chicken shed. Some people told me not to try my tricks because the snake would kill me but I did not care, because I have been working with snakes for a long time and I know their behaviour very well. I then sprayed it with my pesticide and, within some minutes, it became powerless."

Chillboy said he then took out the powerless snake from the shed and everyone was excited. "I am happy now that I got rid of the snake that was terrorizing the people. Snakes are not as dangerous as some people think. They are warm creatures and you only need to understand their behaviour before tackling them," said the visibly happy Chillboy while posing for a picture with the snake.