A venomous snake fell into a well while chasing prey at a village in western India on March 10, and had to be saved by veteran wildlife rescuers.

Getting a call from the farmer who owned the well in Ahmednagar, Gujarat, Akash Jadhav and team of Animal Rescue Society rescuers went to retrieve the Russel’s viper, which had taken refuge in a crack in the wall.

Expert rescuer Nawaz Sheikh went down the well with the help of a harness, which was held by his colleagues at the other end. After a few attempts, he managed to scoop up the viper with a snake stick. The deadly reptile was pulled up and released in a natural habitat later.

Akash said: “The aggressive snake could have leapt out and struck Nawaz. So, we had to keep him safe and still get him close enough to catch it. It was a tense rescue, but he made it look simple.”

A poisonous Russel’s viper snake fell into a well while chasing a prey at a village in Ahmednagar in western India on March 10.

Getting a call from the farmer who owned the well, Akash Jadhav and team of Animal Rescue Society went to rescue the snake, which had taken refuge in a crack in the wall.

Expert rescuer Nawaz Sheikh went down the well with the help of a harness, which was held by his colleagues at the other end. After a few attempts, he managed to scoop up the viper with a snake stick. The deadly reptile was pulled up and released in a natural habitat later.

Akash said: “The aggressive snake could have leapt out and struck Nawaz. So, we had to keep him safe and still get him close enough to catch it. It was a tense rescue, but he made it look simple.”