The snake was caught and relocated. Picture: Supplied/ Critter Chronicles
When Charlotte Molefe’s helper heard the dog barking strangely and whining, she went out to investigate, only to find a snake swallowing the family’s cross pit bull.
“It was terrible!” Molefe from Bethanie near Brits in the North West told Kormorant.
“It was a giant snake. We were so scared. I called the police to come and help and they gave me the snake catcher’s number.”
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Critter Chronicles’ Jac-Louis Horn, André Scholtz, and Ben Bar were called out to the Molefe’s farm just after midnight on Friday and removed the snake.
“It was quite remarkable. We are a conservation service so we usually rescue and relocate snakes, but not normally this large. This snake was 4.1 metres and weighed about 30 kgs,” Horn told The Citizen.
Rescued snakes are usually about 2.5 to 3 metres, but the biggest recorded South African python was 5.5 metres.
“It would usually be a straightforward process but because the snake was so big we had to get farm workers to help move it. We restrained the head and transferred it into a container to relocate it,” Horn added.
When under threat a snake is known to regurgitate or vomit out its meal, to ensure a speedy escape.
“When approached the snake regurgitated the dog and was caught”.
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The python, along with another caught on a neighbouring farm by Scholtz, was released into the Pilanesberg Reserve.
Critter Chronicles runs a Nonprofit Organisations (NPO) to relocate dangerous animals, including snakes, and educate communities about conservation and animal safety.
