A juvenile cobra got badly stuck in a lump of coal tar that was being used to lay a road in eastern India on June 18.

A resident of the area near Jharsuguda, Odisha, called the local fire brigade and Babul Kumar Rout, a fireman who also doubles as a snake rescuer to help.

Rout removed the lump of coal tar along with the cobra and then gently freed the snake using kerosene to break down the sticky substance.

Rout worked briskly and freed the snake in 30 minutes. Though he made the rescue look easy, it was fraught with danger as he had to work around the cobra’s head with bare hands risking a poisonous bite. He also wiped the cobra’s body and face with a piece of cloth several times to remove the residual coal tar still sticking on to it.

Rout said: "I gave the cobra a full five minutes bath with clean water to minimise any harmful effect of kerosene on its skin." The cobra was safely released in a natural habitat later.

Subhenndu Mallik, General Secretary of Snake Helpline, said: "We usually assist the fire brigade when they get calls for snake rescue. But in this case Babul was able to manage on his own.”

A juvenile cobra got badly stuck in coal tar that was being used to lay a road near Jharsuguda in eastern India on June 18.

A resident of the area called the local fire brigade and Babul Kumar Rout, a fireman who also doubles as a snake rescuer, went to the spot. He removed the lump of coal tar along with the cobra and then gently freed the snake using kerosene to break down the sticky substance.

Babul worked briskly and freed the snake in 30 minutes. Though he made the rescue look easy, it was fraught with danger as he had to work around the cobra’s head with bare hands risking a poisonous sting. He also wiped the cobra’s body and face with a piece of cloth several times to remove the residual coal tar still sticking on to it.

Rout said: "I gave the cobra a full five minutes bath with clean water to minimise any harmful effect of kerosene on its skin." The cobra was safely released in a natural habitat later.

Subhenndu Mallik, General Secretary of Snake Helpline, said: "We usually assist the fire brigade when they get calls for snake rescue. But in this case Babul was able to manage on his own.”