A four-foot-long rat snake was rescued after the reptile had taken shelter inside the Khyber Pass Metro Depot located in Timarpur on Sunday. According to Wildlife SOS, the snake was found to be in good health and released back into its natural habitat.
Rescued snake is identified as a rat snake (Ptyas mucosa), also known as the Oriental rat snake, a common species of non-venomous colubrid snake found in South and South-east Asia. However, due to their resemblance to cobras, this species is often misidentified as the highly venomous snake and is met with hostility and fear.
“Sunday morning took quite an unexpected turn for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials at the Khyber Pass Metro Depot, with a snake showing up in their midst. The depot is part of the Yellow Line which connects Samaypur Badli to HUDA City Center,” said a member of rescue tea.
Notably , the metro officials came across the snake while conducting a routing maintenance check of the tracks. “Our officers were down in the instruction line for maintenance check and the last thing they expected to find there was a snake. Thankfully, we came across the Wildlife SOS helpline number online and immediately contacted their team,” said a DMRC official.
Explaining about the nature of snake, Wildlife SOS official said that although the snake is non-venomous, the rat snake is quick and easily excitable, and may bite if threatened.
“Therefore, the Wildlife SOS rescuers had to be cautious while approaching the snake as they wanted to avoid cornering or alarming it.The team worked meticulously and carefully to ensure that it experienced minimum stress while being extricated,” said the official.
Wasim Akram, Deputy Director-Special Projects, Wildlife SOS, said, “We are grateful to the DMRC authorities for their cooperation. The rising temperatures often force snakes out of their natural habitat to find respite from the heat and exhaustion. Since they are cold-blooded animals, their body temperature varies with that of the environment. Therefore, they are unable to self-regulate their temperature if they get too warm. To combat this, they often find cooler places to retreat to during the hottest time of the day.” Last month, Wildlife SOS rescued a Black Kite that had collapsed due to heat exhaustion on the Magenta Line metro tracks.