insiderblmA nine-week-old puppy was rescued by its owner after a carpet python suddenly emerged from a bush and attacked the canine.
The attack, which was captured on video by the homeowner and uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 27, took place in the backyard of the owner’s home in Sippy Downs, a suburb of the Sunshine Coast Region in Queensland, Australia.
In the video, Jasper, a German shepherd/Staffordshire bull terrier mix, can be seen innocently wandering the lawn when a carpet python springs out from a nearby bush and wraps around the pup.
Several seconds after the python attacked the puppy, Jasper’s owner, Michelle van Schouwen, and her young daughter came outside and discovered the snake coiled around their pet.
“I got to the end of the patio and then I sort of just froze and then screamed because I just saw this snake, the python wrapping all around him,” she told 7NEWS Sydney.
Immediately upon seeing the horrifying sight, van Schouwen began striking the snake with a cardboard Christmas wrapping paper roll.
The roll didn’t get the snake off of Jasper, so van Schouwen grabbed the python with her own hands and began spinning it around.
“I grabbed it and I started moving,” she recalled. “At first, it was just that panic. I was just spinning around, and then I noticed Jasper flying through the air, and then instantly my brain kicked into gear and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, I have to stop.’ “
The python eventually let go of Jasper, who quickly rushed away as the snake was flung to the ground.
According to van Schouwen, Jasper had a bite injury in one ear but has since recovered.
“Normally, we’re sort of going, ‘yeah, it’s safe in our yard.’ We do go out and check it, and if there’s a snake obviously we wouldn’t let him go out,” van Schouwen told 7NEWS Sydney. “But they’re quick.”
According to the Queensland Government, carpet pythons can grow up to be 4 meters in length and can easily camouflage themselves outside thanks to their olive-brown skin. They mostly feed after dark, typically eating smaller animals such as rats, possums, and birds.
