A cobra in western India hid down a hole in a garden after eating another rat snake, requiring it to be flushed out with a hosepipe by reptile rescuers.

Reportedly a rat snake entered an apartment in Pune on January 2 looking for rodents. But instead it fell prey to a cobra, which had been living in the garden, without drawing much attention.

But the sight of one snake slowly swallowing another drew a crowd, and the unnerved cobra regurgitated its prey, and vanished.

Saidas Kusal and his team went to the apartment to rescue the cobra. While they saw the dead snake lying on the ground there was no sign of the deadly snake, which even eluded a careful combing of the area.

The team realised that the clever snake had gone underground inside one of the burrows in the garden. They started filling the holes with water and after 20 minutes the cobra emerged and tried to flee.

As all escape routes were cut off it turned very aggressive and Saidas, an experienced rescuer, cautiously caught it by its tail. Both the dead and living snakes were put in separate bags.

Saidas said: “We released the cobra in a forest and hung the dead rat snake on a tree as it would have made a good meal for the birds. Nothing goes waste in nature.”

A rat snake entered an apartment in Pune in western India looking for rodents. But instead it fell prey to a cobra, which had been living in the garden, without drawing much attention.

But the sight of one snake slowly swallowing another drew a crowd, and the unnerved cobra regurgitated its prey, and vanished.

Saidas Kusal and his team went to the apartment to rescue the cobra. While they saw the dead snake lying on the ground there was no sign of the deadly snake, which even eluded a careful combing of the area.

The team realised that the clever snake had gone underground inside one of the burrows in the garden. They started filling the holes with water and after 20 minutes the cobra emerged and tried to flee.

As all escape routes were cut off it turned very aggressive and Saidas, an experienced rescuer, cautiously caught it by its tail. Both the dead and living snakes were put in separate bags.

Saidas said: “We released the cobra in a forest and hung the dead rat snake on a tree as it would have made a good meal for the birds. Nothing goes waste in nature.”