Indian rescuer teases six-foot-long snake from tree hollow

Indian rescuer teases six-foot-long snake from tree hollow

A snake-catcher from India teases out a 6-foot rat snake from inside the hollow of a tree.

Police in Bhubaneswar discovered the reptile in a bottle brush tree on the grounds of a government building today (June 28th) and called snake-catcher Subhendu Mallik.

Mallik and his team were unable to peer directly into the hollow in the tree and so decided to take a photo of the snake first to establish the species.

They quickly realised it was a non-venomous rat snake which must have gone to sleep in the tree after a meal.

Mallik used a long stick to coax the reptile from its sleeping place, captured it and later released it in a natural habitat where it was less likely to come into contact with people.