Wildbuzz | Mighty serpent of the canal

A remarkable instance surfaced last week when a python of 12 feet and weighing a healthy 65 kgs was rescued from its adapted habitat along a Punjab canal

Stressed by the never-ending encroachment upon natural habitats, wild species face a classic Darwinian challenge. The Indian rock python is one such creature, which has shown capabilities to adapt to human-altered landscapes and survive despite its conspicuous size.

Premdeep and (on right) Nikhil Sanger with the 65 kg python in the canal bed. (Ravi)

A remarkable instance surfaced last week when a python of 12 feet and weighing a healthy 65 kgs was rescued from its adapted habitat along a Punjab canal. The big python, along with three other specimens, had been dwelling all these years in a thin strip of undergrowth (15 yards’ width) on the banks of the dry Bist-Doab canal, and had gulped down quite a few stray dogs. The undergrowth is perilously proximate to the busy Ropar-Nawanshahr highway, and locals had reported that two pythons had been crushed.

But this quartet of pythons had existed right under the proverbial nose. Trouble came their way recently when labourers were tasked to clear the undergrowth and they stumbled nervously upon the serpents. The undergrowth, dismissed by development-oriented humans as “wasteland grasses”, actually nurtured a precarious biodiversity from insects to pythons, with the odd, roving leopard also finding temporary shelter. Under pressure from undergrowth clearance, pythons started to wander into the “hi-tech police naka” on the road, which houses the CCTV monitoring system. The pythons rattled the burly Punjab cops and they made complaints to all and sundry to get rid of the infiltrating “sarrals”.

Garshankar wildlife division team with the 65 kg python in the canal bed; and Nikhil Sanger’s right hand bloodied by python bite. (Nikhil Sanger)

Nikhil Sanger, an award-winning conservationist who has rescued serpents from all kinds of tricky spots such as deep wells, was requisitioned for the removal along with a team of the Garshankar wildlife division. “This operation had unique challenges. The road ran right next to the undergrowth and there was a possibility that when we attempted to remove the pythons, some would evade our grasp and slither into the traffic. I spent one day assessing the situation at the canal where I observed that the pythons would slip under a dislocated slab of the canal embankment covered by undergrowth. We got a JCB machine to lift the slab but at the last minute I decided against it as it could have endangered the pythons underneath. The next day, I was able to remove three pythons from the canal embankment with a deft, thoughtful manoeuvre that did not entail the use of snake tongs which clasp the serpent brutally and injure it. However, I got a bloody bite on my hand from a python as I was placing it in the bag,” Sanger told this writer.

The big, 65 kg specimen was extricated by Sanger from the undergrowth as it was sun basking, and he let it lie on the canal bed for about 30 minutes. “The python calmed down and I then put it into the bag with minimal stress and trauma to the creature. All too often, rescue operations end up traumatising, stressing and injuring the snake because the personnel neither exercise patience nor do they grasp the behavioural traits and physical vulnerabilities of the species. Rescuers tend to grasp pythons tightly by the neck and pose for photos, which causes the serpents acute stress,” Sanger added.

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