A snake rescued from Bali wasn’t relocated right away to some jungle conservation center. No, that would have been too boring.
Fearless Aussie man Ross McGibbon, 31, instead ‘invited’ the reticulated python for a swim, after the snake had been rescued during his holiday on the island.
“The snake was relocated from a property in Bali, and my friend Pete from Bali Reptile Rescue brought him over to me for a play before releasing him,” McGibbon said, as quoted by Express.
“It was a reticulated python – they grow to be the longest snake in the world.
“I’ve never swam with snakes before, and the experience was amazing.
“The snake relaxed a lot in the water – they are excellent swimmers and feel quite comfortable in the water, with the weight of their body supported.
“They sometimes hunt prey by the water’s edge, concealing themselves in the water and grabbing mammals that come to drink.
“The best thing about swimming with the snake was not getting bitten!
“These are my favorite snakes, so getting that close to a wild one and being able to handle it without causing any harm to myself, or the snake, was simply one of the best experiences of my snake-handling adventures.”
Not going to lie, even though this guy seems to know what he’s doing, appears to be an experienced snake catcher, and pythons are non-venomous snakes, we still felt super squirmy and nervous watching the Queensland man’s ‘playtime’.
There have been two recent snake-related deaths in Indonesia in the past month, though they were both caused by the extremely venomous king cobra: one was a dangdut singer who was killed by a king cobra in her act, while the other was a snake rescuer killed while catching a king cobra in West Bali.
