Akash Jadhav of Animal Rescue Society received a call at 10 pm that a large crowd had gathered to witness two snakes mating near a house in Ahmednagar district in western India.

Sensing that the crowd may harm the snakes, a rescue team rushed to the spot and saw two adult rat snakes engaged in a mating dance.

“The snakes were so involved with each other, they were oblivious to the crowd that had gathered to see them,” said Akash.

“Someone in the crowd had killed the snakes, in another incident, thinking they were dangerous. We were anxious to protect the snakes,” he added.

The rescue team stood guard to keep the crowd at bay. Akash sat near the snakes patiently to let them finish their business and caught them as soon as they separated.

The rescue team later released the snakes in the wild.