German zoo owner's dramatic rescue after 12ft python tried to eat her head

A female zoo owner in Germany was rescued at the weekend by colleagues after a 12 foot long python began trying to swallow her.

Renate Klosse became the prey for Tiger python Antonia, 24, at the reptile zoo she runs at Uhldingen near Stuttgart.

The nine-stone snake with 70 sharp teeth attacked Renate as she cleaned out her cage.
The jaws of the snake opened so wide that, with one lunge, she was able to completely cover the woman’s face,' said a police spokeswoman.

'She feared that with a few more gulps her head would be inside.'

Renate instinctively stuck her thumbs into the jawbone of the snake to try to get it to relieve its pressure.

Colleagues then sprayed water hoses on to it and it finally slithered off.

Python expert Jan Knoll from Hamburg said: 'Pressure on the jaw would have given the reptile pain.

'The water would have made it lose its sense of smell and disorient it.'

Renate needed hospital treatment for bites and shock.

Antonia had to settle for a supper of live white rats instead.