"Rock pythons are rarely found in cities," says Santosh Shinde of Spreading Awareness on Reptiles & Rehabilitation Programme (or SARRP, Sanskrit for snake), the outfit that rescued the reptile in the rickshaw.Nonetheless, he says, "Last year we found 25 pythons in one month."As for venomous snakes, it would be easier to list the parts of Mumbai they are not found.SARRP rescued 130 reptiles in June, when the monsoon starts, up 14% from last year."In the summer we get a lot of snakes that are dehydrated and in the monsoon displacement is very common," says Madhurita Gupta of the Snake Conservation Trust, another serpent-saving society."But this year it has become too much." She attributes the increasing number of snake-sightings to three factors:extreme rainfall driven by climate change, development encroaching on Mumbai's forests and the piles of festering garbage that blight the city.When people see a snake, they "immediately go to pray or throw (an auspicious) red cloth", says Dr Gupta. Or they "try to kill or attack it, and then they get bitten".Her staff are trying to teach the public to distinguish venomous snakes from others.
