A snake rescuer found more than he bargained for during a routine call in India. While removing a deadly cobra from a private property he discovered something else out of the ordinary: a second snake was stuck in the cobra’s nose.

Video footage shows snake rescuer Anand Chitti removing the cobra from between concrete slabs near the south Indian city of Belagavi. A local businessman had spotted it in an industrialized area of his land and called Chitti for help.

Once Chitti frees the cobra, the smaller snake is clearly visible, hanging out of the cobra’s nostril. The cobra struggled to get rid of the small snake, to no avail. Finally, Chitti was able to grasp the cobra’s head and pull the small snake out, which had already died.

“The dead snake would have begun to decompose soon attracting ants and led to life-threatening infections in the cobra,” said Chitti. “I have caught 14,000 snakes … and had never seen anything strange like that.”

The smaller snake inside the cobra’s nostril is likely a blind worm snake. One of India’s smallest snakes, it only grows to about seven inches in length.

Blind worm snakes have tiny eyes which are covered by scales, allowing them to differentiate between light and dark spaces but preventing them from seeing full images. They usually live under logs or moist leaves and are considered to be the most widespread snake species in the world. The blind worm snake in the video may have mistaken the cobra’s nostril for a tunnel that it could burrow into.