‘Wildlife rescuer’ gives CPR to resuscitate snake that suffered electric shock in Gujarat’s Valsad

Mukesh reached the spot and examined the snake’s condition. He opened its mouth and started giving CPR mouth to mouth. After about half an hour of continuous attempts, the snake started showing movements, and in the next couple of minutes it went into the bushes. The local farm labourers took a picture of Mukesh giving CPR to the snake and uploaded it on social media. The picture has since gone viral on social media.

Talking to The Indian Express, Mukesh Vayad said he has been working as a snake rescuer for the last 10 years. “I have received training from the Snake Research Institute at Dharampur in Valsad,” he said.

Talking about the rescue act,  he said: “After learning about the incident, I reached the spot and found that it was a rat snake, a non-venomous one. I touched the body and found no response.  I opened the mouth of the snake and gave CPR about 20 times, tapping its heart in intervals. After half an hour of such repeated actions, the snake got its respiration and later showed movement and moved to the nearby bushes.”

Surat-based Wildlife Biologist Krunal Trivedi, however, warned against the general public performing such a rescue act.  “Only a properly trained person, that too in the presence of an expert and veterinarian, should do such an act. Due to electric shock or falling from a height, the rat snake might have become unconscious. The method adopted by Mukesh is not recommended. In such situations, an Endotracheal Tube of appropriate size is used to give artificial respiration for snakes by trained veterinarians as its respiratory pipe is quite narrow,” Trivedi explained.