Bhubaneswar: A 5-foot-long rat snake was rescued after locals spotted the reptile with its head stuck inside an abandoned beer can in Patia area of Bhubaneswar.
Some local youths spotted the snake after hearing strange noises from bushes and called Snake Helpline for rescue. General Secretary of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik reached the spot with another volunteer Niharika Mohapatra, who first removed the snake out of the bushes with the help of a hook.
Thereafter, she cut the can with a metal cutter while another rescuer Purnachandra Das assisted her. The snake was found unhurt with no visible injury marks near neck portion.
Niharika did a little counselling to the local youths regarding the nonvenomous rat snake and its importance in our ecosystem and convinced them to release it at the same spot. The snake was released back to wild at the same spot in presence of the locals.
People should properly crush the cans after use if they throw these in the open, said Niharika
Subhendu Mallik said, “This is another case of faulty waste disposal. Abandoned cans become refuse for small frogs, toads, rodents and other reptiles. Snakes insert their head in search of any animal took refuse inside the can and got trapped in a death trap”.
