New Delhi, Jul 15 (IANS): What would you do if you spot a five-foot-long Indian rat snake? Most people would be scared and move as far away as possible. But not Ankur, a bank employee.

While returning home on Wednesday evening, he saw this five-foot-long Indian rat snake on the divider of the Moolchand flyover in south Delhi.

"I was worried that it might get run over by the speeding traffic. Thankfully, I searched online and came across the Wildlife SOS helpline number and immediately contacted them for help," he said.

A Wildlife SOS team reached the spot and carefully extricated the snake. It was temporarily kept under observation and later released into a more suitable natural habitat.

Wasim Akram, deputy director of special projects at the Wildlife SOS, said, "As the monsoon season approaches, the Wildlife SOS response unit always anticipates an increase in snake sightings. This week alone, we have responded to over 20 reptile rescue calls on our 24x7 helpline."

Two other rat snake sightings were reported on the Wildlife SOS helpline this week, one each from private residences at Tughlaq Road and Chanakyapuri. The team also rescued a monitor lizard from a paan shop located at the Kapashera Border in southwest Delhi and another from a building construction site in Noida.