Urgent Rescue Team Tries to Contain 19-Foot Python Borneo Wildlife Rescue Smithsonian Channel
Transcript
00:00 OK, OK.
00:00 As we arrive, we can see the snake in front of the house.
00:04 Quick, it's getting over the wall.
00:06 Hold on, hold on, hold on.
00:07 You--
00:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10 It's a massive reticulated python.
00:13 Watch out.
00:15 Watch it.
00:15 They can grow to more than 19 feet in length,
00:18 the longest snake in the world.
00:21 These pythons kill by constriction,
00:23 wrapping themselves around their prey
00:25 and suffocating them to death.
00:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:30 They've been known to take pets, livestock, and even children.
00:34 So we've got to get this snake out of here as soon as possible.
00:38 It's wrapping itself around me.
00:40 With up to 15,000 muscles, you do not want this snake
00:44 getting a hold of you.
00:46 OK.
00:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:50 Right in.
00:51 Woo.
00:53 Nicely done.
00:54 After wrestling the snake into a sack to keep it and us safe,
00:59 we stop in at the local wildlife park
01:02 to pick up a crate large enough to comfortably contain it.
01:06 OK, find the head first.
01:10 Yeah, there it is.
01:10 I can see its head.
01:12 Right there, you grab the head.
01:14 Me grab-- you want me to get the head?
01:15 Yeah.
01:16 Are you sure?
01:17 Yes.
01:18 All right.
01:18 All right.
01:20 OK.
01:21 OK.
01:21 Yeah.
01:22 Go, go, go.
01:23 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:24 OK.
01:25 Where do I hold it?
01:25 One here, on here?
01:28 OK.
01:29 No.
01:29 Are you OK?
01:30 Yeah, got it.
01:32 This is my first time handling a snake of this size.
01:35 Got it.
01:36 And then you pull out.
01:36 Got it.
01:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:38 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
01:40 Yeah.
01:41 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
01:42 OK.
01:43 OK.
01:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:47 And now we're just going to transfer
01:52 the snake into this crate.
01:55 So it's got a little bit more room to maneuver.
01:58 And it's trying to wrap itself around me.
02:00 And now-- what-- what--
02:02 Its strength is phenomenal.
02:04 What-- yes.
02:05 [BLOWING]
02:07 [BLOWING]
02:09 I survived.
02:11 Snake wrangler.
02:13 Now load it onto the car.
02:14 Yeah.
02:15 And drive it back into the forest.
02:17 Yep.
02:20 So Ben, I've decided to give the snake a name.
02:23 What name?
02:24 I'm calling it Monty.
02:26 Monty.
02:27 Monty-- Monty Python?
02:28 Monty Python.
02:29 Get it?
02:30 [LAUGHTER]
02:33 With Monty loaded up, next stop, a protected reserve
02:40 in the heart of Borneo, several hours drive from the city,
02:44 where this snake will have plenty of space
02:47 to live out its life.
02:48 [GROWLING]
02:50 So we've just arrived at the edge of the forest reserve.
02:54 And now it's time to release this beautiful python
02:58 back into the jungle.
02:59 Does this look like a good place, Ben?
03:05 Yeah, good.
03:06 I think it's OK.
03:10 Are you ready?
03:11 I'm ready.
03:12 Am I going for the head again, or are you going for the head?
03:14 The head is always yours.
03:16 Oh, always me.
03:17 The python may be a constrictor, but it can
03:20 still deliver a powerful bite.
03:22 Whoa.
03:23 He's a bit feisty.
03:29 It's been quite a long journey.
03:30 OK, ready?
03:31 Yeah.
03:32 Grab the head.
03:33 Grab the head.
03:34 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:35 Yeah, I think-- yeah, maybe you just stay with the head.
03:46 He looks like he's got a firm grip.
03:47 I don't want to ruin that.
03:49 So now the time has come to release Monty back
03:53 into this ancient rainforest and far away from human developments
03:58 as possible, and hopefully never to be seen again.
04:03 So let's release him.
04:06 Oh, is he coming back for us?
04:08 No.
04:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:12 Another job well done, fellas.
04:18 That was a feisty snake.
04:20 I'm going to quite miss him.
04:25 I've grown kind of attached to old Monty.
04:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:32 (upbeat music)