NEWIND PRESS (Chennai, India) 04 November 07 Ceasarean section on dead snake

Madurai (PTI): A ceasarean section has been performed on a green vine snake within an hour of its death after being hit by a vehicle, taking out 21 little ones.

The five-and-a-half foot long snake was found lying on the roadside writhing in pain by P Ramesh, a snake lover and conservationist in Usilampatti, about 100 km from here, forest officials said.

Though 'snake Ramesh', as he is affectionately called, tried to save the reptile, it succumbed to the injuries.

Ramesh, who runs the Netaji Snake Research Centre at Usilampatti, understood the snake was carrying and immediately performed a ceasarian section to save the little snakes.

"I used a knife and performed the ceasarean and removed 21 little snakes from its stomach. I fed water to the little snakes. While two died, the other ones survived," Ramesh said.

All the snakes have been handed over to the forest department officials, he said.

Unlike the normal green snakes which lay eggs, the green vine snakes (Ahaetulla Nasuta) are viviparous and usually carry 15 to 20 foetuses.



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• IN Press: Ceasarean on dead snake - W von Papineäu, Tue Nov 6 08:03:44 2007