Mother goes to cook for her children in India, finds 12-foot python on the kitchen slab

In a Northern Indian province, a woman was shocked when she walked into her kitchen and found a 12-foot python on the counter.

Here's what to know

According to news outlet India Today, a woman in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, discovered the snake when she went to cook dinner for her children. She immediately ran out, shouting to alert her family and neighbors. 

The mother later said she had never seen a python that large in the neighborhood before and was very frightened by the ordeal, noting that the snake was found to weigh about 25 kilograms (around 55 pounds).

The Forest Department was contacted and sent a rescue team. After considerable effort, the team was able to remove the snake without harming it. No one in the household was injured by what was identified as an Indian rock python — or Python molurus — according to India Today.

Although the species, like all pythons, is nonvenomous, a bite can still cause serious injuries and infections.

What's being done?

After the rescue team completed the rescue, the python was released back into the forest under the direction of officials. Indian rock pythons are protected under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act.

Encounters with Indian Rock Pythons and other snakes often rise during the monsoon season, which is now lasting longer due to human-caused climate change. 

Local rescuers and trained volunteers have been crucial to relocation efforts, working with state forest officers to ease panic and save the animals whenever possible.

Where can I learn more?

From inside homes, appliances, water tanks, and more, here are some more slithering stories:

• In Raghaniya Village, a snake in a washing machine bit two people before causing panic at a hospital.

• In Telangana, an Indian cobra inside a house was bagged and relocated by a snake catcher.

• In Haridwar, 27 baby snakes were discovered writhing inside a family's water tank.

• Across India, rising temperatures are driving more snakebite incidents and deepening public health fears.

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