A resident of Bhubaneswar spotted a snake inside his house and called Snake Helpline for rescue on June 26.

Purnachandra Das, a volunteer of Snake Helpline, reached the spot and rescued a fully grown smooth-scaled water snake. The heavily bulging abdomen of the snake indicated that it was pregnant.

Purna carefully put the snake in his bag and went home. When he reached home within 25 minutes and opened the bag, he found 10 baby snakes inside, along with their mother. He quickly transferred the snakes to a bucket, where the mother gave birth to three more babies.

Purna handed over the snakes to Subhendu Mallik, General Secretary of Snake Helpline, who released all the 14 snakes at a nearby water body.

While many snakes like cobras, rat snakes, pythons and keel backs lay eggs, few species like smooth-scaled water snakes and vipers give birth to live babies.

Subhendu said: “As these babies are not going to be reared by their mother, they have to find food on their own. They also face many predators such as fish, birds and even frogs. The key of their survival is to release them in a suitable habitat.”

Smooth-scaled water snakes are mildly venomous, but their poison is harmless for human beings. They can be found in fresh and brackish water.