Members of an organisation called Animal Lovers of Patuakhali rescued a rat snake (dhaman) in Kuakata, Patuakhali, and released it after seven days of treatment.

The snake was released on the afternoon of Thursday, 15 December, in the Forest Department's jhau (casuarina) forest on the western part of Kuakata sea beach.

Seven days earlier the six-foot rat snake had been rescued from a farmer's field in the thermal power plant area of Kalapara. It was then kept and treated at a langarkhana.

Present at the release, which took place with the Forest Department's permission, were Rakayet Ahsan, team leader of the Animal Lovers of Kalapara branch, and Bachchu, Abul Hossain Raju, Shaon, Baizid and others.

Rakayet Ahsan told Jagonews that the Indian rat snake (dhaman) is completely non-venomous, but there are many superstitions about it in society. "We want to keep wild animals alive. Our work is to get the right message across to ordinary people," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.