Aussie woman, 80, cops three 'nasty' bites freeing puppy from python: 'Amazing'
Her heroics have stunned online admirers but the brave woman said she just did 'what she had to do'.
An 80-year-old woman has been called a "deadset legend" for rescuing her puppy from the coils of a carpet python. Both animals escaped almost completely unscathed from their battle while the elderly snake wrangler copped three bites for her efforts.
Sounds of her dog "screaming" on Tuesday evening prompted the Lennox Head resident to investigate what was going on in her backyard. She found the python "coiled completely around her pup" with several snake bite marks on its chin.
'Amazing' woman rescues pup and hunts down snake
The woman sprung into action and managed to free her puppy but was "bitten three times" by the python as she pulled the animals apart. After the snake slithered away seeking refuge in her next door neighbour's yard, the determined woman went and found the snake and took it to the nearby bush in the hope it wouldn't bother her dogs again.
"My mum is bloody amazing," her daughter said online, sharing an image of her standing in her driveway holding the snake by its tail while examining a bite on her arm. "Mum got bitten three times getting the snake off her pup".
Aussies responded online praising the brave woman for her heroic efforts.
"They don’t make them like that anymore, what a tough old bird, with a beautiful heart. Hope her pup isn’t too traumatised," one woman said, while others called her "gutsy" and a "trooper".
Others urged her to go to hospital to check the bites hadn't become infected after her daughter confirmed they had travelled to the vet to check on her dog's health. The modest woman didn't want to be interviewed, with her daughter simply telling Yahoo News her mum "did what she had to do".
Carpet pythons inflict 'nasty' bite
People need a special licence to handle wild snakes and "technically she'd be in breach" of these wildlife protection laws, a snake catcher told Yahoo News. However, he commended her bravery and understands her "love of her pet is always going to take over".
"I don't recommend anyone interferes with a snake in this situation, but I get in the in the rush of the moment you make that decision," snake expert Mathew Hampton said. "It's one of those blurry lines where I can totally understand why someone would freak out and try to unwrap the dog... she's done a great job, she's pretty tough."
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Although carpet pythons are not venomous, their bites can be "nasty" as they have up to 100 long, recurve teeth which they use to catch and consume prey.
"If a big python, even one the size in the photo, got you on the wrong nerve on your hand you can end up with nerve damage," he said.
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