A brave reptile expert descended the steep sides of a well in western India on January 16 to rescue a deadly viper.

The snake fell into the water source at a farm near Pune and took refuge in a crack in the wall.

The farmer spotted the venomous reptile and called Saidas Kusal who went with his expert team to the scene.

Amit Kanade lowered himself down the well and caught the deadly viper with a special implement and sent it up to the surface in a crate.

The snake was released shortly afterwards in a natural habitat away from humans.

“Vipers are very fast and aggressive. It is extremely dangerous to approach it when you are hanging mid-air with very little control of your movements. I am happy it ended well," said Kusal.

A viper accidentally fell into an irrigation well at a farm near Pune in western India.

As the water level went down due to pumping, it took refuge in a crack in the wall.

The farmer saw the snake on January 16 and realized that it was a venomous snake called rescuer Saidas Kusal, who went with his team to try to save the snake.

It was a difficult mission as someone had to go down the well and then get close to the deadly snake to catch it.

A rescue team member, Amit Kanade, went down the well with a harness and after a few tense moments managed to catch the viper with a snake-catcher stick and send it up in a crate. The snake was later released in the wild.

Saidas said: “Vipers are very fast and aggressive. It is extremely dangerous to approach it when you are hanging mid air with very little control of your movements. I am happy it ended well.”