Snake's balls for auction

A carpet python that found international fame after gulping down four golf balls could raise a bundle for its rescuers, with the balls to be auctioned online. The 80cm snake, dubbed Augusta, received emergency surgery after mistaking four golf balls for eggs last week.

The balls had been placed in a northern NSW henhouse to encourage a stubborn hen to lay, but were almost a recipe for disaster for the snake. The Gold Coast's Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary veterinarians say the animal would have died if it hadn't been brought to them for what was believed to be a world-first operation.

Now, the golf balls will be auctioned on eBay, (So far 9 bids have produced A$227) with proceeds to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary's new community wildlife hospital. The hospital, which treats more than 4000 wild animals each year, receives no government funding and relies on community and corporate donations.

The winning eBay bidder will take home the four golf balls removed from the snake's stomach during the surgery, veterinary photographs and original X-rays of the snake before and after surgery.

The sanctuary hopes the items will attract high bids from around the world, after Augusta's story appeared in more than 400 national and international news outlets, including The Times of London, the Chicago Herald Tribune, CBS, the UK's Daily Mail, Dom's Weird News, Fox News and Forbes New York.