She knew sedation was the only way to calm the snake—but administering tranquilizers was not without risk.
Given the snake’s fragile condition, there was a chance it might not wake up from the sedation. Still, seeing its aggressive behavior, the vet believed the snake was strong enough to survive the injection.
The vet waited patiently until the snake turned its head away, then swiftly approached and injected the sedative into the snake’s lower body. Now, all they could do was wait.
Over the next few tense minutes, the snake slowed further. The vet carefully administered additional sedatives needed for an animal of its size to lose consciousness completely.
Eventually, the massive creature was fully sedated. Several workers collapsed to their knees, exhausted and relieved. They had faced the very real possibility of death multiple times in the past hours—and had survived.
Now the vet could focus on the bulge—the reason for her long journey. She retrieved her surgical kit from the company’s jeep and prepared to operate.
By palpating the snake’s body, she confirmed her suspicions: a foreign object was lodged near the entrance to its stomach—something the snake had swallowed that could not be digested.
There was only one option left.
With extreme care and precision, the vet made an incision over the bulge. Cutting through skin and muscle, she revealed the true cause of the swelling. But it was not what anyone expected…
Inside the snake was a small plastic box—an object that initially baffled the vet but was immediately recognized by the workers.
They finally understood what had happened—and it was bad news for the snake.
The box was actually a cooler used by the workers to store perishable food like meat. The meat inside had spoiled and started to smell horrifically, so they had left the cooler outside the truck, thinking it was safely out of reach.
They couldn’t figure out how the snake had found the cooler, but clearly it had caught the scent of the spoiled meat and swallowed the entire box whole, mistaking it for prey.
The snake had quickly learned the consequences of that fatal mistake.
With the cooler removed, the vet carefully stitched the snake back together. She also implanted a tracking chip to monitor the snake’s recovery and movements over time.