When volunteers from Srisoonthorn Rescue arrived at the Pae Kruvit2 restaurant located behind Wat Tha Reua at 4:45pm, they were confronted by an angry king cobra measuring 3.5 metres in length – and like all king cobras, the snake could strike while still on the move.
The king cobra was amid a fight with smaller cobra – not of the king cobra species – under the restaurant. The king cobra had already delivered a serious bite to the head of its opponent, but the fight was not yet over.
The rescue workers used a long stick to break up the fight, then cornered and bagged both both snakes, but not without first confirming that the king cobra weighed a hefty 5.7kg.
Both were later released into the wild at separate undisclosed locations.
Later, on New Year’s Day, rescue workers were called to remove a 2.8m python from a drain in front of a restaurant near the market at Baan Sai Thong, in Thung Thong, Kathu.
The snake was finally bagged after 35 minutes of rescue workers trying to hook it with a steel rod, and later released at the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Office in Thalang.
“This is the mating season for snakes, so we think they are looking for places to mate and to lay their eggs,” one rescue worker told The Phuket News.
“Luckily they have not hurt anyone, because they are known to be aggressive during this period,” he added.