Giant python caught after devouring and puking up a canine that made it ‘sluggish’
Images shared on local social media pages showed rescuers holding the massive three-metre snake after it was found before releasing it back to the wild
A large python roaming a road was captured and returned to the wild after it swallowed a dog and became too slow to flee. Social media photos showed rescuers holding the massive snake after it was found.
District chief Kittichote Triamvejwutikrai said police and rescuers were alerted that the reptile had been seen moving on and off the road for several days. They later located it in a wooded area behind a hotel on Charoensuk Road in the Muang Phon district of Thailand.
The python, which was about three metres long, moved sluggishly and was easy to capture, likely because it had recently eaten another animal. Part of the animal was still visible at the entrance to its throat.
Once the snake was released into a forest far from nearby homes, it immediately vomited a dead brown dog.
Triamvejwutikrai said it was the largest python he could recall being found in the district and that around ten men were needed to capture and restrain it. He added that neither the rescuers nor the snake were injured.
Thailand has faced a series of snake-related incidents in recent days as severe flooding in the south has forced wildlife from its natural habitat. Numerous snakes have been seen swimming through inundated streets after being displaced by relentless rainfall.
A viral video posted last Tuesday captured a large serpent gliding through muddy floodwater, heightening anxiety among residents still waiting to be evacuated.
One woman was bitten by one of these snakes and endured a harrowing 32-hour wait for help after becoming trapped by rising water.
Stranded inside her flooded home in Hat Yai, she turned to social media at 3am on Wednesday, describing 24 hours of unbearable pain.
She and her boyfriend had contacted at least ten rescue agencies, but floodwaters had prevented emergency teams from reaching them, according to the Thai Examiner.
Her online plea quickly spread, with thousands urging officials to intervene as she detailed symptoms including bleeding gums, swelling in her legs and difficulty breathing.
She wrote that she forced herself to stay positive and smile in an effort to stay calm for her young child.
Roughly eight hours after her first message, rescue workers finally made it to her home. She was taken to Songkhla Hospital, where doctors administered life-saving antivenom.
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