Rescue workers bag a pair of Phuket pythons

[webfact]

Rescue workers bag a pair of Phuket pythons
Phuket Gazette


Rescue workers wrangled with the hefty Patong python for about 10 minutes before getting it into the bag. Photo: Thawit Bilabdullar

PHUKET: -- Rescue workers were called to recover large pythons in both Patong and Mai Khao last night after local Phuket residents raised the alarm due to the sheer size of the snakes.

Rescue workers from Patong Hospital were summoned to capture a large python seen slithering across the road in front of the Patong Municipality offices (map here) at about 9:30pm.

After wrangling with the reptile for about 10 minutes, rescue workers with the assistance of some local residents managed to secure the hefty reptile, measuring several meters long, in a bag.

Just over an hour later, rescue workers in Mai Khao received a call from local resident Porawat Sae-eiw, reporting that a large snake was in his ceiling.

“I was watching TV when I heard something on the roof. I got the flashlight and checked, and saw the snake had come inside the house through a gap between the roof and the [homemade] rain gutter,” Mr Porawat explained.

“I tried to get the snake out by prodding it with a piece of wood, but instead it slid into the ceiling,” he said.

“At that stage I thought it would be a good idea to call for help,” Mr Porawat added.

On receiving the call, rescue workers rushed to his house at Baan Suan Maphrao.

Familiar with the routine, the workers opened a ceiling panel and used a hook to retrieve the snake. They recovered the reptile, which measured more than two meters long, and bagged it.

Both pythons were released at undisclosed jungle locations.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Rescue-workers-bag-a-pair-of-Phuket-pythons-22008.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-08-20

[webfact]

Night of the Phuket pythons
Eakkapop Thongtub

Locals capture the python outside the Patong Municipality offices.

PHUKET: -- Last night was a night for pythons in Phuket, with two caught – one in Mai Khao and one in Patong. Both were later released in the wild.

The first was caught after Porrawat Sae-Ew called the Maikhao Subdistrict Administrative Non-Profit Rescue Organisation to his home in Baan Suan Mapraow, Mai Khao.

He explained that he was watching TV when he heard a strange noise that seemed to come from a tin rainspout. Shining a flashlight into the spout he spotted a snake. He poked at it with a stick and it disappeared into the ceiling of the house.

The Rescue Organisation volunteers took an hour to pull down the ceiling and catch the snake, a two-metre reticulated python.

Meanwhile, in Patong, villagers were startled to see a fat python, also about two metres long, on the road outside Patong Municipality. Local people caught it and put it in a sack to transport to the forest.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/night-of-the-phuket-pythons-41480.php


-- Phuket News 2013-08-20

[Greer]

Beautiful snakes - but big. I wouldnt like to have to pick one of those up.

[Valentine]

A 5m one was caught just next to the ex's home in Kathu in the middle of a housing estate. It had eaten 2 cats & there was another one in the drain which they could not catch. These are the type of roadside drain which connect with all the internal home drains.

[circusman]

I won't even touch snakeskin boots.

[johntren]

Is that a Thai Airways duty-free bag they're trying to stuff it into? First Class menu due for a revamp, mayhap.....?

[khaowong1]

This diamond back rattle snake was caught at a golf course in Mesa, arizona.