For days, a family in Thottamukkam near Kozhikode, India, believed chickens were being stolen from a wire-mesh coop. The real culprit turned out to be a giant python found inside after it had swallowed one of the birds.
Here's what to know
Coop owner Pampodan Seythalavi found a startling sight during a morning feeding when he saw three of his country chickens critically hurt in the coop, ETV Bharat reported. One bird had already died, while another was still struggling after an apparent attack.
Only after the family inspected the enclosure more closely did they spot a huge python hidden in a corner of the coop. They then contacted snake rescue volunteer M B Naseer to remove the animal safely.
As Naseer prepared to secure the snake, it regurgitated the chicken it had eaten. He then restrained the python without harming it and turned it over to the Thamarassery Forest Range Office.
Finding the reptile answered the family's question about why chickens had been disappearing from what they believed was a secure coop. What first looked like a case of stolen livestock actually didn't have a human culprit at all.
More background
The python was found in a poultry coop attached to the family's home, not somewhere one would expect to see a wild animal, like in a forest or the wilderness.
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The incident renewed concern among residents in forest-edge areas, where snakes, including pythons, sometimes move into human habitation in search of food.
The immediate effects were injured animals, a dead bird, and the danger of confronting a powerful snake in a cramped enclosure. Suspected chicken theft had obscured the actual cause until the family found the python inside the coop.
What can be done?
Forest officials and wildlife rescuers advised residents to make poultry sheds and livestock enclosures more secure. Even though the chickens were kept inside a wire-mesh coop, the python was still able to get in and attack multiple birds.
They also urged people not to try catching snakes on their own. Seythalavi's family was wise to call an expert instead of trying to handle the python themselves.
In forest-edge communities in Kozhikode and similar areas, unexplained poultry losses may require more than anti-theft precautions. Reinforcing enclosures and contacting trained responders are a safer response when a missing chicken turns out to be a predator problem.
Where can I learn more?
Elsewhere, pythons have turned up in animal pens, drains, farms, and even homes, from Malaysia to Florida.
• In Jitra, Malaysia, rescuers captured a bloated 5-meter python after it swallowed a goat from a resort pen.
• In Singapore, park contractors pulled a large reticulated python from a drain after workers spotted it.
• On a Bangladesh farm, a giant python spent two hours swallowing a larger python.
• Around Dhaka, Bangladesh, experts warned snakes now frequently sneak into human settlements as urbanization squeezes habitat.
• In Florida, firefighters found invasive pythons inside residents' homes.
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