Snake Saved After Eating Golf Balls

BRISBANE, Australia

A snake has been saved by surgery after mistaking four golf balls for a meal of chicken eggs, a veterinarian said Wednesday. A couple had placed the balls in their chicken coop at Nobbys Creek in New South Wales state to encourage their hen to nest, Australian Associated Press reported. They found the balls missing last month and a lumpy carpet python nearby. They took the 32-inch non-venomous snake to the nearby Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, where senior veterinarian Michael Pyne operated to remove the balls from the snake's intestine. Pyne said Wednesday the snake was making a speedy recovery. "Those golf balls weren't moving any further; they were stuck where they were," Pyne said. "If it hadn't been found, it would have died for sure," he added.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press

Python's golf balls up for auction

January 7, 2008 - 1:16PM

A carpet python that found international fame after gulping down four golf balls could raise a bundle for its rescuers, with the balls to be auctioned online.

The 80 cm snake, dubbed Augusta, received emergency surgery after mistaking four golf balls for eggs last week.

The balls had been placed in a northern NSW henhouse to encourage a stubborn hen to lay, but were almost a recipe for disaster for the snake.

The Gold Coast's Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary veterinarians say the animal would have died if it hadn't been brought to them for what was believed to be a world-first operation.

Now, the golf balls will be auctioned on eBay, with proceeds to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary's new community wildlife hospital.

The hospital, which treats more than 4,000 wild animals each year, receives no government funding and relies on community and corporate donations.

The winning eBay bidder will take home the four golf balls removed from the snake's stomach during the surgery, veterinary photographs and original X-rays of the snake before and after surgery.

The sanctuary hopes the items will attract high bids from around the world, after Augusta's story appeared in more than 400 national and international news outlets, including The Times of London, the Chicago Herald Tribune, CBS, the UK's Daily Mail, Fox News and Forbes New York.

Bidding starts at $200 and will close on Saturday.


http://news.theage.com.au/pythons-go...107-1kjy.html#


Photo:

One lump or four? The snake that shot to fame after swallowing golf balls last week.