Snake handler Trish Predergast, who was tasked with removing the tennis ball, told BuzzFeed News she had never had to remove something so large from a live snake.

"I have removed golf balls, that kind of thing," Trish, who has been snake handler for 15 years, said.

"I was a veterinary nurse and I was asked to hold a snake about 15 years ago," she said. "It just went from there."