two kittens

Travel Misadventure:

Case of the Kitten Eating Python Snake

I was abruptly awakened in the middle of the night by my cat frantically jumping on me, running circles on the bed and dashing about the bungalow. Wearily I struggled from a sound sleep and asked her what was wrong. She never replied, just continued her frantic dashing.

I’d never seen Banshi like that. Clearly an investigation was in order.

I lazily got up and looked around the dark room. Nothing. I grabbed my flashlight and began peering around more thoroughly. I walked around the end of my bed, beaming the light ahead of me and…

HOLY F*ing SH*T ! A 3-meter python as thick as my cycling thighs was busily swallowing one of Banshi’s four kittens! Instantly I was jolted wide awake, adrenaline coursed through my veins, heart racing, eyes bulging and mouth agape. Wowie!

Now I realize this might the perfect moment for a freaked-out panic for many people.

However, luckily for me, I don’t fear snakes. Nor do I panic in emergencies. Rather, I thrive on the thrill of such critical, urgent situations. I instinctively switched into a calm, methodical state of mind.

Reasoning kicked in. I knew pythons weren’t poisonous. And this one had its mouth full of kitten, so it couldn’t readily bite. Since it already had a meal, surely it would not attempt to curl around me and strangle?

Armed with those facts and assumptions, my first thought was to rescue the remaining three kittens. I stepped right up to Banshi’s box, reached in and took out a kitten, my arm just six inches from the python’s mouth.

Snake just sat there, as I’d expected. I retrieved the first kitten, placed her on my bed inside the mosquito net, and returned for the other two kittens. After getting all three kittens in a ‘nest’ on my bed, I somehow captured frantic momma Banshi and put her with her babies.

three kittens

Cats safe, I went outside for help from my neighbors to extract the python from my bungalow. Although I wasn’t afraid of the snake, I did not actually know how to remove a three-meter kitten-eating monster. I figured some local Thais would know how to do that safely.

It was 3 am, so I felt horribly guilty waking up my Thai-German neighbors, but after all, it was a kind of emergency. After much pounding on the door and calling, I manaaged to rouse my poor pals from slumber. They stumbled outside.

Unfortunately, I’d picked the wrong helpers. Both of them were terrified of snakes! Instead of getting advice or help, I just ended up with two frantic neighbors. However, they did go get the resort owners to help, while they stood around freaking out, worried that Mr. Snake would come out and visit their bungalow next.

In the meantime, I returned to my room to suss out the situation, see how Banshi was doing, and check out the python.

Python was still in the same spot, slowly trying to swallow poor kitten.

beautifully patterned python

Noticing the snake’s beautifully patterned skin and very large head, I took advantage of the great opportunity to investigate such a beautiful creature up close. I shined my flashlight directly at python and moved closer…

A completely unexpected event unfolded. Python suddenly backed up, intimidated by the bright light, (or perhaps by me? Lol) and to my great astonishment spit out poor kitten. Python continued retreating, slithering himself under my large stand-alone closet, where he lay hiding.

scene of the crime: my bungalow at Tonsai Beach – Thailand

About that time ‘help’ arrived. By then almost half of the resort guests had been awakened and were gathered outside my bungalow, anxiously waiting for the rescue spectacle. A few local Thais arrived, one carrying a long bamboo stick, which he planned to use to shoo out python from my room. However, they were all terrified of snakes, down to the very last man and woman.

In the end, I was the one who (single-handedly, I might add) got python out of my room. Some help they were!

Actually, someone did make the most excellent recommendation of clearing a path for python to easily exit my room. Following that advice, I re-entered my room, moved some furniture away from the walls, then put the stick under my closet to nudge python out of hiding.

He obediently and calmly obeyed, followed the wide open path to the door and began slowly sliding over my porch and down the steps to the ground. As he did so, the entire crowd of humans backed away, terrified, as python made his calm exit. My neighbors practically freaked out again, fearing python would enter their bungalow next. Instead, much to everyone’s relief, python slithered out the back end of my bungalow and set off into the jungle.

Once he was gone, show over, relief written on everyone’s faces, people calmed down and made their way back to their rooms. I apologized profusely for waking them up and thanked the Thais for the stick and suggestions. Then I returned to my rooml as well.

three kittens waiting it out

I checked on the three remaining kittens and poor, frantic Banshi, taking refuge on my bed. She was still wide eyed and stiff with fear, pacing around the bed. But otherwise they were all fine.

Next, I checked out the nearly eaten kitten. He was just laying there covered in a gooey slime, but miraculously still alive. Hmmm… I figured I may as well clean him up and see how damaged he was.

I took him into the bathroom and wiped off all the slime. Amazingly, he appeared to be just fine! I figured that I may as well return him to his family and see if Banshi would accept him back after smelling like python.

poor Banshi – mama cat

Then I climbed into bed with the Banshi family, inside the mosquito net, and went back to sleep.

I do have to confess, in all honesty, however, that I did sleep a bit on edge. Would python return to eat more kittens? If so, kitties were all now in bed with me! As much as I like snakes, I didn’t actually want a three-meter python crawling into bed with me, hungry and searching for food, while I was asleep.

Poor Banshi never did quite calm down that night, though she did stay in bed with me and her babies. In fact, Banshi remained terrified for weeks afterward, often staying away from my room and neglecting her poor kittens. I often had to go catch her and bring her back to feed them.

cute kitty still ok – Was this the near victim? Or another?

As for the nearly eaten kitten, that was the most amazing point of the entire ordeal. Believe it or not, the next morning, I could not even tell which of the four kittens had been nearly eaten alive. There was not one scratch, a blood spot, an odor, a puncture, or anything whatsoever to indicate that one of those poor babies had nearly been eaten alive.

Banshi and his siblings welcomed him back into their family, no questions asked, and life resumed as usual aside from their mother’s emotional trauma.

It turned out that I was the only one that night, including both humans and cats, not scared by our midnight intruder. In fact, I had been disappointed that I didn’t get to examine python’s beautifully patterned skin more thoroughly. After all, how often does one get the chance to examine a wild python up close and personal?

QUESTIONS:

What would you have done in this situation?

Have you ever had a wild snake encounter?

If so, where, what kind of snake, and what happened?

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You might like these other travel misadventures I’ve had over the years:

Panic at Midnight

Missing Rental Motorbike

My $23 Cup of Coffee

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