A mother python was safely rescued in eastern KwaZulu-Natal on Mother’s Day by Nick Evans, a snake rescuer in the area.
Evans posted about how he was contacted by a man who had seen the large python five days in a row in Inanda township. Expecting the python to be back the next day, Evans prepped to try and rescue it.
‘Going to bed that night, I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve! I love rescuing snakes, especially a big python!’ he said in the Facebook post.
The next day Evans and his friend went to help find this python who has taken such an affinity to Inanda, scaring those living there with its repeated presence.
The two found the 3,8m python as a crowd has gathered nearby to see it.
‘We walked down the embankment, and saw the python slithering under a shrub, and curling up. Poor thing was terrified, and who could blame it, with so many people around,’ explained Evans.
‘We grabbed the tail as the large snake dived into the water,’ he said ‘It’s pretty hard holding onto a big python! Nick held on, as I went for the head. While it was trying to curl around some vegetation, I reached out and grabbed it. With both ends secured, the job was done.’
Evans found that once he inspected the snake she was underweight, upon weighing only clocked in at 18.3kg, and suspected this python had just become a mother, laying and incubating her eggs which had since hatched with her children slivering off.
‘Unlike most snakes, pythons stay with their eggs, protecting them, and incubating them. This can take up to around 3 months or so. In this time, they don’t eat at all,’ he said.
Evans said the mother python has been placed in a facility to get fattened up and will be freed once she’s improved.
Nick Evans funds these rescues with donations or from his own pocket. If you would like to contribute to his work find the link here.
Image: Nick Evans/ Facebook
