A five-foot-long snake in India underwent a rare surgery after it got stuck in a huge machine amid heavy rains.

The incident took place in the city of Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. According to local media reports, the reptile was lurking in a bush when it got trapped in a machine that wounded its body. It was not clear what sort of machine wounded the snake.

As several areas in the city of Chennai were flooded due to heavy rains, the Guindy Forest Department has been on the lookout for snakes. A team from the department found the snake fighting for its life and rescued it. The timely intervention by the forest physicians and Guindy Forest Department made the rescue possible, News 18 reported.

The staff rushed the snake to the Forest Hospital in Guindy area, where a forest veterinarian said a surgery had to be conducted to fix the reptile's ruptured intestine. The snake was then anesthetized, and the surgery lasted for about 45 minutes, India Times reported.

Authorities told the local media the snake was being kept in a glass container and its entire physical condition was being monitored. Once it recovers, the forest department would release it in the wild.

This is not the first time a life-saving surgery has been conducted on a creature.

Last week, CBC reported surgeons at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, Canada, have attempted to repair the spine of a bald eagle. The eagle was brought to the facility on Oct. 26, and was unable to stand. Veterinarians suspected a spinal cord injury, which was later confirmed by diagnostic imaging. "There's one specific area on the spine that's really common for big birds like this to break," Lara Cusack, senior clinician in the wildlife department, said at the time. "He had use of his back legs, in terms of being able to try to grab us with his talons and pull his legs back, but definitely wasn't able to walk or stand up." Spinal surgeries are common for dogs, but rare for birds.

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Representational image. Pixabay
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