These were the scenes in the Indonesian village of Ampalu in West Sumatra after an enlarged reticulated python was said to have "nearly pounced" on a local villager.

Footage from January 9 shows the six-metre-long serpent with a bulging belly laying in a waterway.

Authorities descended on the scene and with the help of villagers removed it from the stream of water.

Local resident Herman, 50, claimed that he came face to face with the reptile when checking the channel of water. He said the python was behind a bush and was ready to pounce on him.

"At the time I was looking at the condition of the water hose - as it often gets clogged when it rains - when I saw the coiled python that was ready to pounce. I then ran to alert the authorities."

After villagers and authorities rescued the snake it was handed over to the West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency.

A reticulated python with a length of about six meters was found by residents at the foot of the Ampalu hill, Ampalu Village, Lubuk Begalung, Padang, West Sumatra, Saturday 9/1/2021. The python which almost pounced on a resident of Ampalu, Herman (50), was seen preying on animals while checking the water channel at the foot of the hill. A resident of Ampalu, Herman explained, at that time he was checking the condition of the water in the hill, then it was seen behind the snake bush that it was preparing to pounce, but its stomach was enlarged, possibly having just finished eating something. "At that time, I was looking at the condition of the water hose, because after the rain it was often clogged, but at that time it saw a coiled python whose head had stood up to pounce, then I ran to tell the condition," he explained. After a few minutes, a number of residents went up to the hill and evacuated the snake down and brought it to the field. Then the fire department was contacted to bring the snake. At around 16.00 WIB the fire team came to evacuate and later handed it over to the West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency, but temporarily entrusted it to the reptile lovers. The head of RT 1 Rw 18, Zukra said, the snake was evacuated by the fire department which would later be handed over to the West Sumatra BKSDA. The discovery of the snake, which is estimated to be six meters long, is the third time. "This python has been found by the residents for the third time, possibly because of the rain yesterday the snake came out of the nest and this is the largest one found," he said. (moozamochi).

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ular sanca batik (Reticulated python) yang nyaris memangsa, ditangkap oleh warga.


Seekor ular sanca batik (Reticulated python) dengan panjang sekitar enam meter ditemukan warga di kaki bukit Ampalu, Kelurahan Ampalu, Lubuk Begalung, Padang, Sumatera barat, Sabtu 9/1/2021.

Ular sanca yang nyaris menerkam seorang warga Ampalu, Herman (50) terlihat telah memangsa hewan disaat memeriksa saluran air di kaki bukit.

Warga Ampalu, Herman menerangkan, disaat itu tengah memeriksa kondisi air di bukit, kemudian terlihat dibalik semak ular tersebut tengah bersiap untuk menerkam, namun dibagian perut terlihat membesar yang berkemungkinan baru selesai memakan sesuatu.

" Saat itu tengah melihat kondisi selang air, karena pasca hujan sering tersumbat, namun disaat itu terlihat ular sanca bergulung yang kepalanya telah berdiri untuk menerkam, kemudian saya berlari untuk memberi tahu kondisi yang dialami, " jelasnya.

Selang beberapa menit sejumlah warga naik ke bukit dan mengevakuasi ular tersebut ke bawah dan dibawa ke lapangan.

Kemudian pihak pemadam kebakaran dihubungi untuk membawa ular tersebut. Sekitar pukul 16.00 wib tim pemadam kebakaran datang untuk evakuasi dan nantinya akan serahkan kepada pihak Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Sumatera Barat, namun sementara dititipkan ke pihak pecinta reptile.

Ketua RT 1 Rw 18, Zukra mengatakan, Ular tersebut di evakuasi pihak pemadam kebakaran yang nantinya diserahkan ke BKSDA Sumbar. Temuan ular yang diperkirakan sepanjang enam meter tersebut merupakan yang ketiga kalinya.

" Ular sanca ini sudah yang ketiga kali ditemukan warga, kemungkinan karena hujan kemarin ular tersebut keluar dari sarang dan saat inilah yang terbesar ditemukan," katanya. (moozamochi).