A spectacled cobra was seen regurgitating a plastic pipe after mistaking it for a rodent in Sunabeda, Odisha.

Sujit Mohanty arrived at the scene on June 26 after a resident called Snake Helpline.

The volunteer spotted the serpent with a large bulge in its stomach and was shocked when it began regurgitating an 8-inch-long, 1-inch-wide plastic pipe.

Mohanty later released the cobra away from the town.

The general secretary of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik said: "A rodent must have urinated on the pipe or rubbed against it.

"As snakes respond to odour stimuli, the cobra swallowed the pipe mistaking it for prey. It was lucky to find a rescuer quickly.

"If the pipe had gone deeper into the stomach, it would have been difficult to regurgitate.”

This was the bizarre moment a rescuer witnessed a cobra regurgitating a plastic pipe in eastern India.

A resident of Sunabeda in eastern India called Snake Helpline on June 26 after spotting a deadly Indian spectacled cobra in his backyard.

A volunteer, Sujit Mohanty, went to the house and found a snake with a huge bulge in the stomach suggesting that it had swallowed something.

Knowing that the stressed cobra will regurgitate its prey, Sujit kept a patient watch. But what came out astonished even the experienced snake rescuer: a eight inch long & one inch diameter PVC plastic pipe.

General secretary of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik said: "A rodent must have passed in the vicinity of the pipe and the resulting odour may have confused the snake prompting it to swallow it. It was lucky it found a rescuer quickly.”

The rescued cobra was later released in an alternate natural habitat away from the locality.

General secretary of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik said: "A rodent must have urinated on the pipe or rubbed against it. As snakes respond to odour stimuli, the cobra swallowed the pipe mistaking it for a prey. It was lucky to find a rescuer quickly. If the pipe had gone deeper into the stomach, it would have been difficult to regurgitate.”