A pet parrot in Singapore was rescued in the nick of time when its owners discovered a huge python coiled around the bird’s cage.
The 1.5m long (5ft) snake was found on in Melvin Yap's home.
Yap extricated the python and passed it to an animal rescue group. He told the BBC that their pet bird, named Nikki, survived unharmed, but was “petrified”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yap said he was fast asleep early yesterday morning when he was woken by frantic screams in his house.
“My domestic helper was in the process of cleaning the bird's cage. The snake was just right in front of her, and she didn't see it until my wife spotted it and screamed ‘Snake!’,” he said.
Yap rushed downstairs with his 10-year-old daughter, who assisted him as he “coaxed” the snake into a large plastic bag with a stick.
His encounter, which was covered by local media outlets, “drew astonished responses from Singaporeans, not least for the way in which he caught the reptile,” says the BBC. “STICK and PLASTIC BAG???? Salute ah!” wrote one Facebook commenter.
But Yap said he “just wanted to quickly contain the situation, and ensure my loved ones didn't get hurt”.
“After I caught it, I realised it was more scared of us than the other way round. It was in defensive mode, curling up and trying to protect itself.”
Although pythons do not have a venomous bite, “there have been reports of the giant animals attacking people,” says Metro.
In March this year “an Indonesian man was apparently swallowed by a python, while earlier this month another Indonesian was badly hurt after wrestling with a python – which was subsequently killed and eaten,” adds the paper.
-
Political cartoons for January 26Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include an ICE storm, the TikTok takeover, and Iranian-style reform
-
Winter storm lashes much of US South, East CoastSpeed Read The storm spread across 2,000 miles of the country
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purge
Speed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
