SNAKES ALIVE: ABUSED REPTILE BACK IN BUSH
A python was released back into the wild after someone purposefully drove over it
A 2m southern African python
(Python natalensis) has experienced human kindness after experiencing the pain of a deliberate attempt to kill it.
The snake has been released back into the wild after someone drove over its head in the north of Pretoria.
“Remarkably‚ no injuries were found‚” Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. The “hit and run” occurred about two weeks ago.
“Weighing in at 5kg‚ he was about 2m long! He was given a clean bill of health and was successfully released in a suitable and secure environment.”
The snake was first taken to Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital in Onderstepoort where it was treated by Dr Dorianne Elliott.
“People were driving down the road. They saw the python crossing the road and the people in front purposefully drove over him‚ so they stopped and picked him and brought him straight here (to the hospital).
“He was very dazed. He was bleeding severely from the mouth‚ so we gave him painkillers for about a week until we could see there was no severe damage.”
Elliott said people have a bad attitude towards snakes because they are misunderstood.
“Everything from traditional African folklore right up to the Christian thing of the snake in the Garden of Eden. People kill snakes purposefully all the time.”