A constrictor is about the last thing you want to find in your swimming pool. But even then, things can get a little worse – as one family from Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia discovered.
However, the victim of the whole situation was not, as one might think, a human being, but the snake itself – because the poor creature had taken refuge in the water of the pool for good reason.
“Nike”, as the python was later christened by the vet, suffered from a veritable plague of ticks. He was covered all over with the stubborn parasites that had burrowed into his skin. Nike, a male diamond python, was probably hoping to get rid of the bloodsuckers in the pool water. However unsuccessful.
Luckily, the pool owners felt sympathy for Nike and called animal emergency services. The rescuers fished the snake out of the cool water and took it to the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital for wildlife.
There, Nike’s pests were removed in hours of work. The vets had to pull a total of 511 ticks out of his skin!
For a while he suffered from the loss of blood and the swelling caused by the many tick bites. He had also contracted an infection that had to be treated with medication.