 A Burmese python had managed to swallow an electric blanket, with all the wires and general entanglements that go with it.
Emergency surgery was required to remove the blanket and tangle of wires that x-rays showed was running through 8ft of the python's 12ft (3.6m) body.
Owner Karl Beznoska, of Ketchum in Idaho, US, believes the blanket become entangled in Houdini's rabbit dinner.
Vets say it would have taken the python six hours to swallow the blanket.
They believe 18-year-old Houdini would have died had they not performed the two-hour operation.
The vet who carried out the surgery, Karsten Fostvedt, said the "prognosis is great". Houdini is now recovering.
Neither Mr Fostvedt nor his colleague at Ketchum's St Francis Pet Clinic had operated on a snake before and had to telephone two specialists for advice after Houdini was brought in.
I thought it interesting, but not surprising, that this python was named Houdini. These snakes are great escape artists, to the great chagrin of their owners and especially their neighbours. Obviously, their bodies are very well adapted to getting in and out of tight places, but they also have enormous strength. This may allow them, for example, to lift the lid off their cages. Once they get away, they are often pretty hard to find. Once you hear the lady next door scream, you got it.
PS: Another pet snake, a 6 ft boa, was put in a mailbox by its owner to startle a mail carrier. As you can imagine, the very stupid prank worked perfectly. James R. Mell, a 31-year-old mail mechanic from Detroit, now faces up to six months in prison, since obstructing delivery of U.S. mail is a federal offense. He has apologised profoundly, so hopefully the judge shows mercy. Who would otherwise look after the boa and make sure it doesn't swallow an electric blanket?
7:30:03 AM 
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