Kollam: Venomous snake hides inside car bonnet for almost 36 hours

Kollam: In a bizarre incident, a King Cobra was rescued from the bonnet of a car in Kollam district, earlier this week. The snake was eventually rescued by famous snake catcher Vava Suresh. The venomous reptile ended up travelling over 200 kilometres by hiding inside the vehicle's bonnet, before it was finally rescued after one and a half days. 

The six-foot-long King Cobra entered into the car of Anayadi native Manuraj while returning from Gavi on Sunday. Initially, Manuraj and his family had taken photos of the giant snake which they spotted on the roadside in Angamoozhy region. Moments later, hardly before the family could realise what had happened, the snake had crawled its way into the car. But surprisingly, the reptile couldn’t be spotted anywhere inside or outside the car, despite Manuraj thoroughly checking the vehicle multiple times. It looked as if the reptile had vanished into thin air. With little options, Manu and his family drove back home. Their minds were filled with doubts and anxiety. To add to their suspicion, a dog was sighted barking unnaturally at their car, when they halted the vehicle for food amidst their journey. To further their doubts, their pet dog Babar also grew uncomfortable on sighting the car and barked at the vehicle continuously. Manuraj shared his concerns in a Facebook page which discusses topics related to snakes in Kerala. His car remained under close CCTV surveillance for the entire duration.

Rescue man Vava Suresh arrived at Manu’s house around 9:30 PM on Monday night. In a mission that lasted over hours, the King Cobra was finally taken out of the vehicle around 3:20 AM on Tuesday. The reptile was later handed over to the Kerala forest department.