Wildlife officials in Kidduwala, Uttarakhand, painstakingly cut free a rat snake that was entangled in a pond's netting.

The serpent had entered the pond to feast on the fish inside but ended up trapped inside the netting.

A team of officials named Jitendra Bisht, Gaurav Doval, and Jeet Kshetri carefully cut free the rat snake's body from the netting before releasing it back into the wild.

An Indian rat snake was rescued and released by the forest department officials in northern India's Uttarakhand in what was a heartwarming gesture. The reptile had entered the pond to feast on fish but was instead trapped inside a fishing net.

This happened in Kidduwala in Dehradun on October 9.

Visuals captured the rescue operation to save the snake underway. The reptile stood still as it was being freed from the nets. One of the officials in this rescue operation held on to the reptile's mouth to prevent any untoward incident while the others carefully plucked out the net from the snake's body and cut it out, without causing any harm to the creature's skin. The net was completely removed from the snake's body after which it was released into the wild.

According to a report, the snake had entered a fish pond outside Sudhir Thapa's house. The forest department officials soon reached the spot after receiving information and worked towards rescuing the snake. The reptile was caught and forest officers Jitendra Bisht, Gaurav Doval and Jeet Kshetri safely cut the net from the snake's body and freed it. The reptile, which was seven feet long, was subsequently released into the wild.