What do KAYAKING, GOLF BALLS, and Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata (Yellow Rat Snake) all have in
common?
A couple weeks ago, a yellow rat snake in Beaufort, SC was
hanging out in a chicken coop and he mistook a gold ball that had been placed in
the nest as a fresh, delicious egg. Evidently golf balls will sometimes be
placed in a chicken’s nest so they know where they are supposed to lay their eggs.
Well this snake then decided to go try to cross the road (he wasn’t having a
good day) and some Master Naturalists who own the Beaufort Kayak Tours noticed
the odd shape inside the snake. They collected the snake and it just so
happened that a veterinarian who happened to be returning a kayak agreed to
treat the snake. The naturalists also called an SCDNR veterinarian who looked
up online how to remove a golf ball from a snake (evidently pretty common) who
discussed with the other veterinarian the best way to proceed with the surgery.
And yes, there is a video of the surgery!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKE0xVBufM&feature=player_embedded
The whole surgery took about ten minute, and the snake even
got anesthesia through a tubing usually used for feeding puppies. The snake
almost died during its surgery, but somehow revived itself. The snake got stitched
back up and was taken to a nature center to recuperate. The stiches should have
been removed this week, but I could not find any follow-up stories. The snake
is going to be used for education purposes because of its amazing story to
teach people how valuable yellow rat snakes are for the Lowcountry’s ecosystems
and what risks humans can pose to animals. Story link http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/04/05/2026232/video-no-hiss-trionics-as-beaufort.html
2 comments:
This is incredible! The field guide says they are good climbers so I wonder if the golf ball protruding from its stomach hindered it from grabbing on to surfaces. I would love to see if chicken owners changed from using golf balls to a larger or more digestible fake egg so this won't occur again.
Really cool article.
Lucky snake - I'm glad they were able to help it! I like Lauryn's suggestion of using a different type of fake egg - maybe something like paper mache?
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