5-foot-long rat snake found entangled at chicken coop in Delhi

A nearly 5-foot-long rat snake was found entangled in the wire mesh in a chicken coop here, according to the Wildlife SOS, which rescued the reptile.

In an attempt to prey on easily accessible poultry, the snake had made its way into a chicken coop in the backyard of a house in Vigyan Lok but the reptile ended up getting inextricably tangled in the wire mesh, it said.

Navin Atal, who placed the call, said, I was shocked to find the large snake trapped in the wire mesh while the chicken inside the coop looked petrified. As I didn't want to harm the snake by mishandling it, I immediately called the Wildlife SOS for help.

A two-member team from the NGO rushed to the location to carry out the rescue operation yesterday.

The snake's futile attempts to break free had resulted in the wires to tighten its grip around the body. It took them nearly 30 minutes to safely extricate the distressed snake from this rather unfortunate incident, the Wildlife SOS said in a statement.

Shortly after the incident, the team rushed to the rescue of another rat snake from the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus. Both the snakes were kept under observation and later released back into the wild.

Rat snakes, also known as the oriental rat snake, are a highly adaptable species and are commonly found in the urban areas. They feed primarily on rodents, frogs, small birds and mammals, lizards, eggs etc.

However, due to their resemblance to cobras, this species is often misidentified as the highly venomous snake and is met with hostility and fear.

Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO Wildlife SOS said, Wire meshes or synthetic netting in gardens, agricultural fields and farms cause thousands of fatalities to wildlife.