Agra, Sep 14 (IANS): Four venomous Common Kraits were rescued by the rapid response unit of a non-governmental organisation, Wildlife SOS on Tuesday from a nearly 20-feet deep borewell in Jugsena village at Acchnera in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district.

In another incident, a four feet long Indian rock python entered the computer lab premises of the Ace College of Engineering and Management in Etmadpur at Agra. All the snakes were later released back in their natural habitat.

It turned out to be a rather shocking morning for a resident of Jugsena village, after he found four snakes trapped in a nearly 20-feet deep open borewell. He caught sight of the snakes while he was out for routine work on his agricultural land and immediately alerted the Wildlife SOS.

A two-member team from the NGO rushed to the location. On taking a closer look, the rescuers confirmed that the snakes were Common Kraits, one of the four most venomous snake species in India.

Taking all safety precautions, one of the rescuers climbed down into the borewell to safely transfer the four snakes into a transport carrier. The entire operation lasted for nearly an hour.

Baiju Raj M.V, Director, Conservation Projects for Wildlife SOS, said, "It was a challenging rescue operation as our team was handling not one but four highly venomous Common Kraits. Being a nocturnal species, they are quite active at night and are often found resting in crevices, rodent burrows, termite mounds or under rocks etc during the day. It is extremely important to take certain precautions while dealing with snakes, especially those that are venomous."

Around the same time, students at the ACE College of Engineering and Management in Etmadpur, Agra, were shocked to find an Indian rock python slithering across the staircase leading to their computer lab. The incident was soon reported to Wildlife SOS and the python was rescued by the organisation's rapid response unit.

Hiralal, the caller and the Registrar at the college, said, "We had previously contacted Wildlife SOS for finding a snake seen in our campus. When we saw this large python slithering towards our computer laboratory, we immediately reported the incident on the 24-hour helpline. We are glad that the snake was rescued safely."

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, said, "We are glad to see people adopting a more sensitized approach towards these largely misunderstood reptiles and instead of taking matters into their own hands, they contacted Wildlife SOS for assistance. Snakes seldom bite, however, when dealing with venomous snakes, it is important to keep them very calm and maintain public safety to avoid unnecessary accidents."