Mumbai, June 18: A two-and-half foot sand boa snake was rescued from mangroves near Vikhroli. The snake had a thick elastic band wrapped around the upper body and it had damaged its body. This sand boa was rescued three weeks ago and it was released into the forest earlier this week. Rubber bands and poly-fibre nets are very dangerous for the slithering creatures and a big menace for the snakes.

"The state forest department was informed by a local citizen about the sand boa troubled due to the rubber band," said honorary wildlife warden, Sunish Subramanian. "The rubber band had the snake in a vice-like grip such that a part of its outer skin was damaged." Wildlife veterinarian Dr Manish Pingle was treating the snake after the forest department referred him. According to Subramanian, "The boa must have crawled through the rubber band which got wrapped around its body. After cutting the band, the snake took a few days to recuperate before being released into the wild." He also made an appeal to the public to not be careless about the garbage and plastic items when they go out on picnics.

In a similar incident, the Plant and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS-Mumbai) had rescued a rat snake from Airoli which was trapped in a fishing net and while trying to free itself was deeply injured. With the monsoons approaching a lot of snakes tend to come out of their holes due to water logging and the plastic waste can affect the slithering creatures and even other reptiles. It is also a time when people head out for more picnics and tend to ignore the waste they are creating. Make sure you are not among them.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2018 03:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).