A rescuer helped an Indian cobra regurgitate a cough medicine bottle stuck in its mouth in Bhubaneswar in eastern India on July 3.

Subhendu Mallik, General Secretary of Snake Helpline, received a call about a cobra in distress after swallowing a bottle-like substance. The caller said that the cobra was trying to regurgitate the bottle but could not do so.

Subhendu rushed to the spot and found the cobra struggling to regurgitate a bottle-like object much larger than its head. The cobra looked severely dehydrated, and a few residents of the area said they had spotted the cobra with a bulging stomach for the last 15 days.

Subhendu gently widened the lower jaw of the cobra with his hook end. Once the rim of the base of the bottle was freed from the lower jaw, the snake regurgitated the plastic bottle on its own.

The plastic object turned out to be a medicine bottle for the common cold. Subhendu bagged the snake and released it in a suitable natural habitat outside the city.

Subhendu Mallik said, “A rodent may have rubbed against the medicine bottle that was thrown carelessly. The prey's odour must have prompted the snake to swallow the bottle in a serious judgmental error. It was lucky and survived the ordeal.”

A rescuer helped an Indian cobra throw up a cough medicine bottle stuck in its mouth in Bhubaneswar in eastern India on July 3.

Subhendu Mallik, General Secretary of Snake Helpline, received a call about a cobra in distress after swallowing a bottle-like substance. The caller said that the cobra was trying to regurgitate the bottle but could not do so.

Subhendu rushed to the spot and found the cobra struggling to regurgitate a bottle-like object much larger than its head. The cobra looked severely dehydrated and a few residents of the area said they had spotted the cobra with a bulging stomach for the last 15 days.

Subhendu gently widened the lower jaw of the cobra with his hook end. Once the rim of the base of the bottle freed from the lower jaw, the snake regurgitated the plastic bottle on its own.

The plastic object turned out to be a medicine bottle for the common cold. Subhendu bagged the snake and released it in a suitable natural habitat out of the city.

Subhendu Mallik said, “A rodent may have rubbed against the medicine bottle that was thrown carelessly. The prey's odour must have prompted the snake to swallow the bottle in a serious judgmental error. It was lucky and survived the ordeal.”