Kobe Alkobi and the viper he found. Photo: Channel 2.

A professional snake catcher from northern Israel recently snared the largest viper he had ever seen – in a fuse box not far from Kibbutz Shamir in the Galilee Panhandle region, Israel’s Channel 2 reported Wednesday.

Kobe Alkobi recounted his experience, saying, “I have received many calls over the years about vipers but I’ve never seen one this long or thick.”

The veteran reptile wrangler, who found the animal near a wastewater storage tank, added “[I] told colleagues about the viper and showed them pictures… They too had never encountered such a beast.”

The viper is the most common venomous snake found in Israel, Channel 2 said. Although they mainly feed on rats, most snake bites in Israel are the work of the viper’s trademark-hinged fangs. While these slippery assassins usually range from 70 to 90 centimeters in length, the viper that Alkobi encountered was a whopping 1.30 meters, Channel 2 said.

Having taken a picture of himself and the trophy snake, Alkobi released the cold-blooded vertebrate into the wilds of the Golan Heights.