Rains keep snake catchers busy in Agra

Agra, Sep 3 (IANS) It's been an unusually busy week for the snake catchers in Agra as the city saw several good spells of rain this week.The Wild Life SOS rescue team members remained on their toes responding to distress calls alerting the team about snakes, monitor lizards and even turtles that were sighted in the unlikeliest of places.The Wild Life SOS Rapid Response Unit has rescued 20 reptiles including a five-foot-long Indian rock python from Pathak Hospital in Bichpuri, a four-foot-long cobra from Anand Engineering College premises, and a six-foot-long Indian rat snake from Gandhi Ashram in Runakta. The NGO also rescued two Wolf snakes from Jeoni Mandi and Loha mandi snakes.A total of 4 Indian rock pythons, 4 cobras, 7 wolf snakes, 4 rat snakes, one monitor lizard and one flap shell turtle have been rescued during the week.Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS, said, "The rains have prompted an increase in the reptile sightings. As common shelters for snakes and monitor lizards are flooding, they are looking for safe and dry land, thus inadvertently being spotted in residential areas."Baiju Raj M.V., Director, Conservation Projects for Wildlife SOS, said, "We get maximum calls for reptile rescues during the monsoon season and we end up responding to more than 10 calls a day! We request people to keep supporting our cause and report any such sighting on our helpline."All the snakes were kept under observation for a few hours and later released back into their natural habitat.
--IANS bk/shs