Cobra slithers into grocery store in Agra, rescued

Agra, Aug 13 (IANS) After a couple of good showers here in the last few days, reptiles have begun to stir out of their burrows and holes, looking for drier habitats.

A grocery store owner of Kuberpur village near Agra had been hearing some strange hissing sounds for the past three days from his ceiling. To his horror, he found a long cobra cosily perched in the crevice.

Panicked, he contacted the local NGO ‘Wildlife SOS’ which sent its team of experts to nab the deadly reptile.

The Wildlife SOS rescuers carefully searched the area and found the cobra resting in a space between the supporting beams of the ceiling. The rescuers had to exercise extreme caution in extracting the snake and close to an hour later, it was ready to be relocated to a safe habitat.

Rishav Bansal, of the store, said, “We had been hearing this hissing sounds for the past few days and were shocked to find out that it was in fact a cobra. We are very thankful for Wildlife SOS’ timely assistance.”

Baiju Raj M.V, Director Conservation Projects for Wildlife SOS, said, “Because of changing weather conditions and the arrival of monsoons, reptiles will seek out shelter in dry

spaces. Such incidents have increased in the past month as the rains have been flooding the burrows and holes that these reptiles usually inhabit.”

In another incident, a cobra was rescued from Om Nagar colony in Kalindi Vihar, Agra on Thursday.

India is home to a variety of snake species ranging from extremely venomous snakes like the Cobra and Common krait to relatively harmless and non-venomous ones like the Common sand boa, Red sand boa, Wolf snake and Rat snake.

Largely misrepresented and often perceived as dangerous, reptiles are met with fear and hostility, leading to incidents of human conflict with this species.

–IANS

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