Visitors at the Orchard Road shopping belt this morning caught quite a show when a massive reticulated python wrangled with at least five people outside Tang Plaza.
The reptile was first seen sheltering itself under a stone bench right outside the Orchard Road MRT station exit, where presumably no one dared to disturb it. Handlers from the Anticimex pest control company were later captured attempting to extricate the python from its hiding spot — and they did, but not without much difficulty.
One of the workers was not able to get a firm grip of the snake’s head and dropped it. Moments later, the same dude got his arm and hands coiled up as he struggled on the ground.
Don’t worry, his colleagues managed to get him out of the slithery mess. A man in uniform — a Tang Plaza security guard — can be heard calling out for ice, presumably to treat the man’s injuries. The man can be seen putting his head down on the bench, seemingly grimacing in pain.
The python was later carried away after the men failed to bag it.
Calling pest control firms to handle snakes is actually not advisable, a veteran wildlife expert told The Straits Times. Pest controllers might not be trained to handle wild animals such as snakes — the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) are better equipped with the skills to do so. The action that should be carried out, according to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, is to call them and they’ll send an expert to deal with the snake.
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