Singapore may be a city filled with high-rise buildings, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get our fair share of wild creatures. Especially snakes (yes, they lurk in toilet bowls, find their way to offices, and take part in smackdowns amongst themselves).
But one video made it to viral fame last week when it showed two brave females from the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (Acres) — an officer and a volunteer — seizing two large snakes out of their hiding places in two different incidents over the course of one day.
The first incident occurred at a drain in the Jurong area, while the other one was at a construction site in Bukit Batok, reported The Straits Times. Both cases happened last Monday, and the women in the videos were identified as 24-year-old rescue officer Carmen Choong and a volunteer named Rebecca.
All in a day’s work, indeed.
According to Acres deputy chief executive officer Kalai Vanan, both snakes were native reticulated pythons. Even though they’re usually not removed from their natural habitats in drains and canals, in the Jurong case, the snake was rescued for its safety and that of the staff who were cleaning the drains.
“The python from the drain had eaten something,” he told ST. “We can only conclude from X-rays but typically, the animal should be a cat.”
He went on to say that the snakes involved in both incidents were handled well and thanked the public for keeping an eye on the creatures. Both snakes were given to the zoo to be microchipped before they were released back into the wild.
As for the two brave souls who did all the rescue work, they were lauded by netizens who saluted them for their fearless actions.
Choong, who graduated with a degree in Business and Environmental Science from James Cook University last year, told ST she chose to get onboard with Acres to work with wildlife.
“Most people will be afraid but for me I like snakes and have liked them since I was young,” she said, going on to add that she handles snakes once or twice a day.
Amazingly enough, these two women somehow pulled all this off without employing the timeworn tradition of biting the python’s tale as a Cambodian migrant worker did last week in Bangkok.
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