A group of amateurs had a lucky escape when an albino snake they captured turned out to be an extremely poisonous krait.

A few men spotted the snake in Kalinga Nagar in Odisha in India on December 15. Finding its white colour cute, they caught it carefully and put it in a bottle. Unable to identify it, they handed over the snake to Snake Helpline, an animal welfare organisation.

To their shock Subhendu Mallik, general secretary of the organisation, identified the snake as the lethal common krait, one of the most poisonous snakes in India.

“The men were unable to identify the snake as it was an albino. They were lucky it didn’t bite them when they handled it,” said Mallik.

“I checked the hexagonal scales in the mid-body and fangs to confirm that it’s a true albino with an entire white body and blue eyes. A common krait albino is extremely rare,” he added.

The snake has been released in its natural habitat.