Some rescues leave you silent for a while after it’s done. Not because it was the most dangerous. Not because it involved a crowd or a chase. But because it left a mess—not just in the room, but in the head.

This one unfolded inside a small farm that breeds rabbits. A spectacled cobra had made its way into one of the enclosed rooms and, by the time we arrived, had already killed five baby rabbits. It had eaten two. The other three lay dead, while the mother rabbit stood guard—still, tense, and visibly shaken. It wasn’t instinct as much as helpless defiance.

Had we delayed a little longer, she might not have made it either.

Chayant and I got to work, knowing this would be both physically and emotionally taxing. The space was poorly lit, grimy, and reeked of animal waste and panic. The snake was cornered, not aggressive, but alert and understandably defensive. And then—midway through the handling—it did what snakes sometimes do under stress. It regurgitated both the rabbits it had swallowed.

If you’re unfamiliar with the behaviour, snakes often regurgitate prey when they sense a threat during or after a meal. It’s a survival mechanism: lighten the load and escape faster. But watching two half-digested baby rabbits come out of a snake’s mouth while their mother is still alive and staring at the scene? That stays with you.

We managed to secure the cobra without injury—to it or us—and relocated it to a safe habitat. The rabbit mother, though probably traumatised, survived. That was the only silver lining.

These kinds of rescues don’t make it to Instagram reels or awareness posters. They don’t get applause. They just quietly pile up. As I’ve said before, rescuing snakes isn’t just about technique or courage—it chips away at your emotional bandwidth. Some days it’s a mild inconvenience. Some days it feels like you’ve walked through someone else’s tragedy.

And yet, we’ll show up the next time. Probably with the same gear, the same reflexes, and the same hope that maybe—just maybe—we’ll make a small difference again.