Posted on 05/08/2020 6:26:04 PM PDT by Candor7
A Kimberley man suffered bites to his hand during a desperate battle with a 2.5 metre python that tried to eat one of his kittens last week.
Nick Kearns, from Kununurra, in Western Australia's far north, said he did not hesitate when he heard his partner Karyn screaming in the early hours of the morning.
The python was in the garden and had coiled itself around Lil — short for "the little one" — and Mr Kearns, although not exactly suitably attired, raced to the rescue.
"I jumped up — naked of course — and ran outside," Mr Kearns said.
"I just couldn't unwrap it.
"I reckon I didn't have very long — I could see the cat was starting to slow down a bit."
While his partner held onto the reptile's tail, Mr Kearns tried everything he could to to free the kitten.
"I found the center of the coil near where her head would have been and just put my hand in there and grabbed the head," he said.
The snake uncoiled, but as Mr Kearns relaxed his grip it managed to bite his right hand.
He said the subsequent tetanus injection and scrapes from falling over hurt more than the bite itself.
"It was only later on I noticed there was blood everywhere," he said.
"It was all mine, from cuts and bites."
Mr Kearns was bitten on the hand during the struggle.
Mr Kearns had completed a snake handling course a couple of years ago and said he never doubted that it was a python, and therefore knew the serpent was not venomous.
"I did think at the time it would be nice if part of the lesson had been how to rescue a kitten," he said.
"There was no way I was going to stand by and let it eat the kitten."
Two young kittens lying on cat bed. Nick Kearns staged a nude rescue of Lil after a she was nearly eaten by a snake.
Mr Kearns says Lil remains a bit spooked and skittish.
He now checks his property every morning for snakes.
"They're just doing their thing, it wasn't actually anything against the snake," he said.
"But I'm just making sure we try and keep it as safe as we can."
He said the most important thing was not to panic and keep a tight grip.
"If you grab the back of the head they can't bite you," he said.
"The real lesson is 'don't let go'."
Australian Viking Kitty Ping!
A hero.
“Naked Kimberley man rescues kitten from clutches of 2.5m python”
I’ll take news headlines you never expected to see for 400 please Alex
Bravo!
Dang dude! At .357 to the top of the snakes head would have been easier.
Good on ya !
Nasty swelling from the attacks, but God bless this kind man.
That’s a bit over 8 feet.
Grey tiger stripped. Nice. I have one short ear tips and about an inch of it’s tail. When I rescued her she was almost froze to death. I figured she wouldn’t make it. She’s about 3 years old now. I named her Maggie after Maggie Thatcher. Tough ladies both. I wasn’t naked when I found her. In fact, I had a lot of clothes on. Great job. :)
Only an Aussie would have the literal balls to wrestle a python naked, just to save a kitten. Good on ya, mate.
Not a lot of places to carry a .357 when your naked. Drawing from down under could leave a terrible scar. Besides my S&W 27 or the 28 have pretty uncomfortable looking front sights. Just saying.
The python was NOT happy with the outcome.
“Officer! Somebody just stole my Lunch right out of my mouth!! Now, what am I supposed to do about a pick-me-up snack?
Next time, Bro. keep your Kitties in a locked cage.
All this open space, belongs to me! Got it?”
“This is my rifle, this is my gun. One is for fighting, the other for fun.”
***”If you grab the back of the head they can’t bite you,” he said.***
I wish that were true of politicians.
I don’t even want to think about my .357 Marlin lever in a carry position while I’m naked. :) No one called their rifle a gun either. It was your piece in my old days. If that snake had bit the guys bag. That would have been a fight to watch.
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