A snake (nicknamed Mike) that was recently captured in Queensland, Australia

I was reading through some articles online today, when I came across an article about a python infested with more than 500 ticks in Australia.

To be clear, snakes don’t even make it to my top ten list of favourite animals, and I prefer to keep a healthy distance between them and me; whether venomous or not. But I felt sad for this poor guy.

A snake (nicknamed Mike) that was recently captured in Queensland, Australia, was covered with hundreds upon hundreds of ticks. So many of the bloodsucking parasites clung to the snake that the unfortunate reptile looked like it was wearing a second coat of living scales.

Fortunately, the guy who caught it took the snake to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation in Queensland, where 511 ticks were removed from the python's body. The snake was finally pronounced tick-free on Jan. 12, but was still "very unwell" with anaemia, hospital representatives wrote.

This extreme infestation likely happened because the snake was already sick, likely with a compromised immune system, and it could not fight the infestation.

For now, the snake is still resting at the wildlife facility, while doctors work to clear up the infestation and are hopeful that he will recover completely and return to the wild in the coming months.