Beguru: A surprise awaited the villagers, when a snake which was in search of a place to lay eggs, found its way into a home from where it was rescued in the night and then next morning laid 70 eggs in another house.

This snake found its way into the home of Mahadevappa, a resident of Somarahalli village on Jan.30 night. Seeing the snake in the house, the residents alerted Snake Shashi, a snake catcher in the village over the phone.

Shashi reached the house and found the four-feet long, nearly five to six-year-old Checkered Keelback snake. Since it was night he decided to safely release it into the forest next day morning and carried it in a box to his house.

However, when Shashi opened the box next morning (Jan.31), a surprise awaited him. The snake which must have been in a pregnant state, had laid about 70 eggs and was lying curled in the box. It is said that the snake was trying to find a safe place to lay eggs.

Shashi, who had little experience handling snake eggs, called his friend Snake Raviraj of Agathagowdahalli village anxiously and told him about the eggs. Later, both of them without causing any harm carefully separated the eggs.

The duo decided to save the eggs and since it takes 60 to 70 days for the eggs to hatch, they have prepared a small nest and placed the eggs. However, they have released the snake in the nearby forest.