The other day, Raven Ridge Wildlife Center (RRWC) took in a small bird who’d been found on the ground by a Good Samaritan named Bobby. The team thanked Bobby for driving the bird to their facility and wished him goodbye, expecting to reconnect in a few
days with an update on the bird’s progress.
But to their surprise, Bobby returned an hour later — this time with a large blue trash can in the back of his vehicle.
“[W]e were not sure if he had forgotten something …” RRWC wrote on Facebook.
The team was perplexed. But as soon as Bobby explained the situation, they rushed to pull the trash can out of the car.
“[W]hen he left our facility and went home, he found this Eastern Rat Snake (Black Rat Snake) that was very agitated and saw there was plastic garden netting around his body,” RRWC wrote.
Sadly, this was hardly the first time the team had seen a snake tangled in plastic netting. But after removing him from the trash can, they realized his case was far more serious than usual.
“[T]his was a very deep and infected wound that needed immediate attention,” RRWC wrote.
Without skipping a beat, the RRWC team carried the snake inside, gave him pain medication and began the delicate process of removing the netting from his body. A few careful snips later, the snake was finally freed, and everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief.
You can see more pictures of the snake’s rescue here:
After removing the netting, the team cleaned the snake’s wound and covered it with a special medication. They then wrapped it to “keep it clean and prevent other potential contaminants from getting into the deep wound.”
The snake is still in rehabilitation at RRWC, but he’s making strides every day. The team hopes to see him make a full recovery soon and looks forward to releasing him in the future.
“As the wounds heal, the snake will be returned to its area where it was found, which is required by [Pennsylvania] Fish and Boat law,” RRWC wrote.
In the meantime, the RRWC crew will continue caring for injured wildlife from across Pennsylvania, one rescue at a time. They're grateful for people like Bobby, whose quick actions help get wild animals the care they need.
