A drunken teenager woke up to find a four-foot cobra in his bed.

After a fun night out with friends celebrating the end of his exams, 18-year-old Allesandro Panzeri returned to his family farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa. As he lay down to sleep at 1am, he was in for a shocking surprise - a four-foot Cape cobra was sleeping in his bed!

At first, Allesandro thought he was just hearing things when he heard a loud hissing noise coming from his pillow. He tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but the hissing persisted. Finally, he turned on the light and discovered the deadly snake half inside his pillowcase. Allesandro was horrified and immediately woke up his mother, Valeria, to show her the dangerous situation.

Valeria was initially skeptical, but when she saw the cobra for herself, she was shocked. Allesandro couldn't believe that one of Africa's most dangerous snakes had made its way into his room and onto his bed while he was out with his friends. They quickly sealed the door to prevent the snake from escaping and called a snake catcher the next morning. The snake had barely moved, and the catcher explained that it could have easily bitten Allesandro through the pillowcase.

Allesandro's close call has left him feeling a bit paranoid when it comes to bedtime. He now checks under the bed, duvet, and pillows every night before settling in for sleep. The snake was later released back into the wild, but this incident has made Allesandro and his family more aware of the dangers that come with living on a farm.

The Cape cobra is one of the deadliest snakes in South Africa, along with the black mamba. In fact, there are about 600 snake bites recorded a year in South Africa, with 10 to 12 of those resulting in death. However, many cases in rural areas go unrecorded, so the actual number of deaths could be much higher. In all of Africa, there are about 20,000 recorded snake bite deaths a year, which is five times more than the combined deaths caused by lions, hippos, elephants, buffalos, and crocodiles.

The cobra found in Allesandro's bed was an adult male, measuring about 1.2 meters long. These snakes can grow up to 2 meters and inject neurotoxic venom that attacks the central nervous system, causing suffocation. However, most bite victims can survive if they receive treatment within six hours.

Valeria, who manages the farm, was relieved that her son was safe and had only had a few drinks with his friends that night. She admits that she didn't fully believe him until she saw the snake for herself. The snake catcher who retrieved the cobra was also surprised that it had stayed in the pillow for so long and explained that it was probably seeking warmth on the cool night.

In the end, the cobra was safely released into a nature reserve, and Allesandro learned a valuable lesson about checking his bed before climbing in. He also hopes that his story will raise awareness about the dangers of living in a rural area and the importance of being cautious around wild animals. To stay updated on the latest news, be sure to follow Metro on Whatsapp!

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]