Lizards, caimans, monkeys, antelopes and… beach towels? Monty Python’s diet landed her in a ssssspot of bother.
The jungle carpet python, native to the north-west of Australia, is a non-venomous snake to humans that roams tropical and subtropical forests near waterways and creeks. They generally grow between five and seven feet in length, and aren’t particularly aggressive – to the point they’re actually quite commonly kept in captivity.
Most people are aware of how creatures suffer their demise when ambushed by a python: they’re constricted to the point of death, then swallowed whole. With that in mind, just imagine how scared this poor towel was when Monty came along.
CatersAt 18 years old, Monty has no doubt enjoyed a fair few meals in her time. However, her decision to guzzle a towel meant her owners brought her into the ‘Avian and Exotics’ department of the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) in Sydney to get it dislodged in a gloriously icky procedure.
First, an endoscope was sent down through the snake’s mouth, where vets found the towel more than a metre away from Monty’s head. Dr Olivia Clarke obviously had to anaesthetise the exotic pet in order that the towel could be removed, which was remarkably still in tact after exiting Monty’s body.
CatersSASH wrote on its Facebook page:
Once we had a good grip, the towel was able to be carefully removed from the gastrointestinal tract with endoscopic guidance. It was smiles all round and we’re happy to report that both Monty and the beach towel have lived to see another day!
We see all kinds of interesting cases in our Avian and Exotics Department, but it’s not every day we see something quite as unusual and as extraordinary as this case.
Monty was discharged the same day and quickly returned to her ‘to her happy, hungry self’. The extraordinary video soon made its way online, with some even dubbing it ‘oddly satisfying’ – while it’s undoubtedly a cool watch, the footage still concerns a struggling animal.
One user wrote: ‘I feel like oddly satisfying is used for like paint mixing videos or soap cutting – while this right here is slightly terrifying because it’s a python with a beach towel down its throat.’
There is nothing oddly satisfying about this. A python had a BEACH TOWEL in it’s stomach. How are you ok with this?
— Amanda 🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@DreamWriterDKS) February 28, 2020
Another user wrote: ‘For me, its the effort, relief and excitement on the faces of those extracting that towel from the python that made it satisfying for me – I was rooting for them.’
We’re glad to know Monty is okay – just lay off the towels, buddy.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.