ALAPPUZHA: The life of a python trapped in a plastic net in a paddy field at Edathua in Kuttanad is safe in the hands of Arun C Mohan, a snake rescuer from Vadackal of Alappuzha. The severely injured python, which is more than 10 ft in length and weighs 11kg, is under treatment at his residence. It had a deep wound with maggots crawling in them when it was rescued from the paddy land. Its health had deteriorated as it could not take food due to pain.
“When I reached Eadutha on March 22 after local people alerted me, the python was trapped in a plastic net used for growing vegetables. The wound was deep and one could see its ribs. The carcass of another python was also seen close to it. We suspect it was the pair of the rescued one. After cutting the net, we took the snake to the veterinary hospital at Ambalappuzha,” said Arun, a member of Snake Awareness Rescue and Protection App (SARPA), an animal rescue team under the Forest and Wildlife Department. “Dr Mary Lishi Sebastian cleaned the wound and removed the worms.
We also informed the division forest officer and he asked me to keep the snake with me because if we released it in the jungle now, it might die due to the wound. Then, I decided to protect it and tried to give it food, but it was hesitant,” said Arun. “The next day, I took it to a private veterinary hospital at Haripad. Dr Aswathy of the hospital advised antibiotics and drip. She again dressed the wound and administered a drip. In two days, its condition improved and it started taking food. Twice again, I took the snake to the hospital and got the wound dressed.
The doctor has advised me to come again on Friday to decide whether it needs a plastic surgery to cure the deep wound,” said Arun, who is a medical representative. He has been engaged in rescuing snakes for the past 10 years and is interested in wildlife photography. “After the forest and wildlife department started training snake rescuers and registering them, I took registration oneand- a-half years ago,” he said.