A 4-meter long king cobra was discovered in a Krabi housing estate drainage pipe last Sunday.
The king cobra is a venomous snake that latches onto its victim for up to eight minutes at a time, making its huge size even more problematic for people living on the Krabi housing estate.
That is why a rescue organization arrived to capture the snake soon after it was discovered.
The Krabi Pitakpracha Foundation, the snake rescue organization that was called to the estate to deal with it, said it was one of the biggest king cobras they had ever seen
The capture of the 4-meter long king cobra
In a video posted to YouTube (watch below), a member of the capture team grabs the cobra’s tail and attempts to pull it from the water at the head of the sewer pipe.
But the snake squirms free and heads back into the darkness of the pipe.
The rescue worker follows after it, grabs it by the tail and, by slowly working his hand up the snake’s slithering body, eventually manages to grab it behind the head.
He then pulls the snake out of the pipe and shows it off to his waiting team members.
It took seven rescue workers over an hour to both find the snake and capture it, but it was just one man who eventually grabbed the king cobra.
After capture, the king cobra was measured and weighed before it was set free in the jungle. A long way from the Krabi housing estate it was found on, of course.
The Krabi Pitakpracha Foundation said afterwards the snake measured more than four meters in length (over 13 feet) and weighed more than 15 kilos (34 pounds).
As far as snake bites from king cobras in Thailand, however, this is actually rare. In fact, Thai hospitals report few bits from these snakes, with most of the ones they treat being snake charmers.
And, just in case you are wondering, yes, in most cases a captured snake is usually set free in Thailand.
This is because they are a very useful pest controller, and specifically when it comes to controlling the rat population.