WATCH: ‘It started vomiting out the dog’ — 4.1m long python swallows pit bull whole

When Charlotte Molefe’s helper heard the dog barking strangely and whining, she went out to investigate, only to find a snake swallowing the family’s cross pit bull.

“It was terrible!” Molefe from Bethanie near Brits in the North West told Kormorant.

“It was a giant snake. We were so scared. I called the police to come and help and they gave me the snake catcher’s number.”

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Critter Chronicles’ Jac-Louis Horn, André Scholtz, and Ben Bar were called out to the Molefe’s farm just after midnight on Friday and removed the snake.

“It was quite remarkable. We are a conservation service so we usually rescue and relocate snakes, but not normally this large. This snake was 4.1 metres and weighed about 30 kgs,” Horn told The Citizen.

Watch: Python swallows dog

Rescued snakes are usually about 2.5 to 3 metres, but the biggest recorded South African python was 5.5 metres.

“It would usually be a straightforward process but because the snake was so big we had to get farm workers to help move it. We restrained the head and transferred it into a container to relocate it,” Horn added.

When under threat a snake is known to regurgitate or vomit out its meal, to ensure a speedy escape.

“When approached the snake regurgitated the dog and was caught”.

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The python, along with another caught on a neighbouring farm by Scholtz, was released into the Pilanesberg Reserve.

Critter Chronicles runs a Nonprofit Organisations (NPO) to relocate dangerous animals, including snakes, and educate communities about conservation and animal safety.