A family from Kottayam that reached Ponmudi and visited the nearby Kallar and Peppara areas to get a feel of nature returned after a close encounter with the wild as well on Friday.
According to J. Viswambharan Nair, Deputy Forest Ranger, Palode, the family of Pradeep, a bank employee from Kottayam, reached Ponmudi on Friday morning and after spending time till noon at the hill station, left for Peppara dam via Kallar. En route the forest road, they saw a snake on the road and stopped the car.
The family stopped for a break around 4 p.m. at Kaalankkavu, near Nanniyode, when Mr. Pradeep noticed a portion of the snake stuck between the car’s hood and the radiator. The local people alerted Forest officials, who took the car to their office at Nanniyode. Sanalraj, a daily wages watcher, was summoned and it was then that they opened the hood.
“We realised that it was a king cobra only then. Sanalraj managed to trap it into a sack after trying for nearly an hour. It measures around 15ft and weighs about 20kg,” Mr. Nair said.
