KOCHI: Blocked traffic is nothing new for people residing in Kochi and areas nearby. On Sunday night, however, traffic came to a standstill on the busy Seaport-Airport Road in Kalamassery for an unusual reason — a python crossing the road.
The nearly two-metre-long Indian rock python made its way slowly across the busy stretch near the KSEB office around 11.10pm. And thanks to some animal lovers and ‘selfie’ experts, the snake enjoyed a smooth crossing, with the video shared widely and becoming a topic of discussion on social media platforms. It took around four to five minutes for the snake to cross the road and people waited for it to move off the road fully. A group of youngsters stood in the middle of the road to ensure the reptile was not run over by any passing vehicle.
A forest department official, who is part of the animal rescue team, said python-spotting has become frequent in Kochi over the past three or four years. “We get calls to rescue pythons from the city and surrounding areas two or three times a week. As Kochi has vast marshy land, pythons find it easy to survive. They feed on rodents that are available in plenty here, ” he said.