In a tense rescue, glue was removed from a baby cobra with rescuers moving their bare fingers tantalisingly close to the fangs of the reptile.

Baby cobras are born with full sacks of venoms and fangs, which can kill an adult.

The rescue was so risky the cobra bit the first rescuer, who had to be rushed to the hospital.

The snake was found stuck in a glue trap inside a shopping mall at Baripada in Odisha, India.

The employees of the mall called a local snake expert Krushnachandra Gochhayat for rescue. Krushnachandra removed the baby cobra from the trap and removed glue from its body.

While he was removing the glue from the head, the baby cobra bit him and latched on to his middle finger with one fang.

Krushnachandra managed to free his finger, left the cobra in a basket and rushed to the nearest government hospital, where doctors administered 10 vials of polyvalent Snake Venom Antiserum (ASV).

As he recovered, Krushnachandra called Snake Helpline, whose volunteers traveled 500 km to finish the rescue.

They pinned down the head of the baby cobra gently and then rubbed off the glue with baby oil. After thoroughly cleaning the cobra they released it in a water body.

Subhendu Mallik, who led the second rescue effort, said: “It was scary as it involved direct contact with the head of the cobra. Pinning it down was not easy as it was slippery with glue.”

“People should stop using rodent glue traps as they are fast becoming death traps for reptiles and birds,” he added.