Snake Tales

Sharon

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Staff member
PREMO Member
Python dies after swallowing 40 kg deer

A 14-foot python has died in northern India after swallowing a deer. Doctors at Rishikesh's government veterinary hospital, who performed a post-mortem examination, said the reptile died because "it had eaten something beyond its digesting capabilities".

It is being reported that the trunk of the deer was intact when doctors tore open the carcass of the reptile. The python, believed to be about eight to ten years old, had swallowed a female cheetal deer weighing 40kg while it was grazing on the banks of a river.

Hundreds of people from nearby villages gathered to watch the reptile, which had been unable to sleep for the past five days, reports United News of India.

According to Mr Rajendra Singh, Divisional Forest officer, the villagers tried to provoke the python into movement with sticks and stones but the reptile could barely move with its inflated stomach.

Car-clinging snake recovering from road accident

An 8ft long boa constrictor which was mistaken for a loose exhaust pipe as she clung to the underside of a car is recovering in a rescue centre. The female snake, who has been named Ebenezer the Squeezer, was injured as she fell off the car and was hit by a vehicle behind the one she had been on.

Initially the driver behind the snake-carrying car had thought the long, thin object was a loose exhaust pipe and it was only when she saw it drop off that she realised what it was and swerved to try to avoid it.

The reptile which was hit near Highbridge in Somerset was taken to the nearby Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre after the accident. There a vet found she had bruised a ligament connected to her jaw, broken ribs and burn marks from skidding on the road.

Ebenezer, who is beige with dark brown markings and thought to be around 10 years old, is now calm and is being monitored by the centre.

The centre's founder Pauline Kidner said: "She was very underweight when she came in and is not taking to food." She added: "She is very good and placid but we have to be very careful as she is not well and hungry. Once she eats she might start getting quicker and we don't know her personality.

"People who buy snakes as pets do not appreciate their size and weight. They can get up to 20ft long and eight or nine stone." Mrs Kidner added: "She may have escaped herself and we are appealing for anyone who feels they have lost her to come to us and have her back."
 
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