A motorcyclist was left in shock after a tiny snake took refuge inside his helmet.
Bibhuti Bhusan Sahu, a resident of a town near Bhubaneswar in eastern India, went to his room to fetch his helmet to go to work on March 30.
He saw a small snake crawling in the room.
Before he could react, it climbed a table and then crawled under the helmet and vanished.
Bibhuti tried but could not find the snake inside the helmet.
In terror, he called the Snake Helpline, which sent a volunteer Ashis Behera to the spot.
At first, Ashis also failed to spot the snake but after Bibhuti requested him repeatedly, he again examined the helmet thoroughly.
This time he was astonished to see the snake hiding up between the inside shell of the helmet and the cushion padding.
He identified the snake to be a baby common kukri, and as it is a non-venomous species, he gently it pulled out with his fingers.
Founder of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik said: "Though the snake was in non-venomous it was potentially a dangerous situation. If the snake felt uncomfortable when he was wearing the helmet, it could have bitten him in retaliation causing a serious accident."
"This is the second instance of a snake being rescued from inside a helmet. A similar incident had occurred in Australia in 2018," he added.
Common kukri snakes, which can grow up to 28 inches, are found in many parts of India. They come with sharp and curved teeth with which they hunt and feed on insects, larvae, reptile eggs, small mice, geckos, and skinks.
