The British ex-pat discovered a nasty surprise in her outdoor tree on Thursday, when she came home from work to find a three-metre (10-foot) python coiled around the potted evergreen.

The python lay on her lap until they could get her in a big box. “This way, she was also able to monitor the python’s breathing and heart rate. Other than the heart, the python wasn’t moving.

KZN snake catcher Nick Evans shared his run-in with a python on Christmas. Online users were in awe of the snake expert’s delicate rescue operation for the snake.