Well-known Durban-based snake rescuer Nick Evans had a busy early morning start to his Christmas Day.
Writing on his Facebook page, Evans posted: ‘At 1am on Christmas morning, we were not woken up by Santa Claus, but rather, a call for a python at a private conservation area!
‘The fence patroller was doing his routine patrol, when he spotted the 3m+- Southern African Python stuck in the fence.
‘This conservation (undisclosed location) is well fenced, with a number of protected species inside. There is clear-vu and electric fencing.
‘Unfortunately, this python tried getting through. It got incredibly far out through the tiny gap in the clear-vu fencing, likely due to the adrenaline of being shocked.
‘Often in such cases, pythons die. However, the staff at this place are sharp.
‘The fence patroller called his colleagues for help, and also called one of the technicians to turn off the electric fencing. I was also called.
‘While waiting for me, the fence was switched off, the staff tried getting the python out, but just couldn’t.
‘Carla Goede and I arrived, and we were amazed at how far this female python had gotten through the fence.
‘Together we tried squeezing her body and pulling her out, but there was no chance. We didn’t gain a millimeter.
‘Fortunately, the technician had the right gear to cut the clear-vu. I pressed the pythons body down, to create a gap, and he managed to cut. Then, Carla and I managed to pull the python out easily.
‘The poor python was almost life-less, apart from the occasional flicker of the tongue.
‘Unfortunately, I didn’t have my python boxes. I only had a bucket that we’d have to squeeze this python into, which we could. However, Carla, a veterinarian, was worried about the pythons own weight putting too much to pressure on it’s already compromised cardiovascular systems.
‘Instead, Carla had the python lie on her lap, essentially, as we drove home, until we could get her in a big box. The petrol attendants were surprised 
‘This way, she was also able to monitor the pythons breathing & heart rate. Other than the heart, the python wasn’t moving.
‘After getting home, we got about 2 hours sleep, and when we woke up, we were happy to see that the python was extremely lively.
‘We’ve kept her for observation, and she appears to be 100% fine for release now.
‘A very lucky python!
‘A massive thank you to the staff for their efforts in saving this beautiful snake!’
If you saw this snake on a night patrol, how fast would you cover the 100m sprint?
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