A large king cobra was captured in a Trang durian orchard after repeated sightings during harvest season.
Orchard owner, 73 year old Jarun Sae-Iew, today, July 7, called for help after spotting the snake again on his orchard in Ban Thung Yao, Palian district. He contacted 21 year old Suphat Eadchata, known locally as Benz the Snake Wrangler, a rescue worker with Na Muen Sri Subdistrict Rescue Unit.
Jarun said he had seen the cobra moving in and out of his orchard several times but it always disappeared before rescuers arrived.
This morning, while taking workers to pick durians, he saw the cobra slip under a tree and immediately called Suphat for assistance.
A deep hole was located near the durian tree roots. After digging about 4 metres down, the king cobra was discovered. Using a snake hook to pin its head, rescuers extracted the cobra by hand.
The snake measured 4 metres long and weighed 8 kilogrammes. It was safely placed in a sack after a tense five-minute capture.
Jarun said in 30 years of farming he had never seen a king cobra in his orchard. He explained the snake’s dry leaf colouring made it almost invisible, raising fears someone might step on it and get bitten.
He suspected the snake had been living there to hunt bamboo rats, which had recently disappeared from the area, reported KhaoSod.
No eggs or hatchlings were found in the burrow, easing concerns that more cobras might be hiding nearby.
In similar news, a 4-metre king cobra was captured in Songkhla province after workers spotted it devouring a rat snake at the base of a rubber tree.
The incident occurred on June 16 at a plantation in Nathawi district, prompting frightened workers to call the southern Thailand serpentology team for help.
Rescuers managed to capture the cobra and released it into a remote forest area away from communities.
The story Rescuer catches giant king cobra in Trang durian orchard as seen on Thaiger News.
