Orchard Road shoppers hoping to get some last minute Chinese New Year shopping done on Tues (29 Jan) morning may have bumped into an unexpected friend lepak-ing around.
Oh, by friend, we mean a 3-metre, cold blooded reticulated python.
According to some passersby, our scaly friend was seen lazing under a bench near Shaw Plaza from as early as 8.20am.
From footage circulating on social media, he seemed to be mostly motionless as he lay underneath the bench, between the pillar.
A group of passersby soon gathered around to gaze at his natural resting pose. Some even took shots of him for their ‘grams.
Unlike us mortals who commute via public transport, it was likely that the python travelled via the sewers, very much like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Source
5 men from a pest control company were promptly summoned to return him back to where he belonged — the wild.
You can watch them in action here. They even tried fitting him into a gurney sack — sounds more like a kidnapping case if you ask us.
Understandably, after being mishandled, our friend felt cranky AF and bit one of the men who tried to subdue him.
Fortunately for the staff, our pal here is non-venomous. That was just his way of saying “Don’t disturb me”.
By the way, our friend seems to be quite the gym junkie. The powerful snake actually managed to thrash his way out of being bagged.
After the feeble attempt, 2 more staff from the pest control company were called in as reinforcements.
They apparently learnt from their previous lesson and tried a new strategy this time around.
Given the massive handicap they had in their favour, the group of men were able to lift our slithering pal directly off the floor.
Please be gentle with our friend alright.
As of the time of this article, AVA is conducting investigations on the alleged mishandling of the python.
According to existing guidelines, snakes shouldn’t be harmed by staff handling them and “appropriate equipment” should be used throughout the capture process.
The AVA takes animal cruelty very seriously and will not hesitate to take enforcement actions against offenders.
In all seriousness, members of the public are advised against calling for pest control when they encounter a snake.
That’s because staff from pest control companies are not trained to handle snakes and may kill them accidentally during the capturing process.
Here are the proper authorities you should contact.
AVA’s Snake-Sighting 24-Hr Hotline:
Acres’s Wildlife Rescue 24-Hr Hotline:
AVA later revealed that the python has been removed from Orchard Road and handed over to Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
We wish the staff member bitten by the python a speedy recovery, and that they’ll be properly trained to handle snakes soon.
That said, aren’t wild animals found in our country as Singaporean as we are?
If so, should we really be removing them forcefully the next time they appear within human dwellings?
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