While many families were looking forward to opening their Christmas gifts and indulging in delicious treats, Highway, KZN, snake catcher Nick Evans was called to rescue a python in a private conservation area.

Evans says the call came through at 01:00 on Wednesday.

According to Evans, the fence patroller was doing his routine patrol when he spotted the southern African python, about 3m in length, stuck in the fence in a conservation area, the location of which has not been disclosed.

“The area is well-fenced, with a number of protected species inside. There is ClearVu and electric fencing.

“Unfortunately, this python tried getting through it. It got incredibly far through the tiny gap in the ClearVu fencing, likely due to the adrenaline of being shocked.”

Often in such cases, the pythons die, says Evans. However, the staff are well trained.

“The fence patroller called his colleagues for help and also called one of the technicians to turn off the electric fencing. I was also called.”

While waiting for Evans, the staff switched off the electric fence and tried unsuccessfully to get the python out.

The snake catcher arrived with veterinarian, Carla Goede.

Together, they tried squeezing the python’s body to pull her out.

“There was no chance. We didn’t gain a millimetre. Fortunately, the technician had the right gear to cut the ClearVu. I pressed the python’s body down, to create a gap, and he managed to cut. Then, Carla and I managed to pull the python out easily.

“The poor python was almost lifeless, apart from the occasional flicker of the tongue.”

As Evans had not brought his python boxes, they tried to squeeze the python into a bucket. However, Goede was worried about the python’s weight putting too much pressure on its already compromised cardiovascular system.

The python laid on her lap until they could get her in a big box.

“This way, she was also able to monitor the python’s breathing and heart rate. Other than the heart, the python wasn’t moving. After getting home, we got about two hours of sleep, and when we woke up, we were happy to see that the python was extremely lively.

“We’ve kept her for observation, and she appears to be 100% for release now. A very lucky python!”