India: A snake rescuer called to remove a cobra from a businessman’s property in India made an unusual discovery—a smaller snake stuck in the serpent’s nostril.

Anand Chitti, a snake rescuer in the city of Belagavi, said a local businessman summoned him Sept. 11 to some industrial land, where a cobra had been sighted, reports UPI.

Chitti filmed the rescue as he dug through a pile of bricks to reach the snake.

The cobra, once extracted from its hiding place, was found to have a blind worm snake—the smallest species of snake in India—stuck inside its nose.

‘I have caught 14,000 snakes till now and had never seen anything strange like that,’ Chitti said.

He said the cobra appeared to be trying to remove the smaller snake from its nostril, but with no success. The rescuer was able to help the cobra by pulling out the blind worm snake, which did not survive the encounter.

Chitti said the 5-inch blind worm snake, a burrowing species, may have mistaken the cobra’s nostril for a safe and warm hiding place and climbed inside.

He said the cobra was not injured, but could have faced health risks if the smaller snake had not been removed.

‘The dead snake would have begun to decompose soon attracting ants and led to life-threatening infections in cobra,’ Chitti said.