TEHERAN, IRAN — An Iranian hunter was shot to death Monday near Teheran by a snake that coiled itself around his shotgun as he pinned the reptile to the ground, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The agency, monitored in Nicosia, quoted another hunter as saying that the victim, Ali-Asghar Ahani, tried to catch the snake alive by pressing the butt of his shotgun behind its head.

But the snake coiled around the butt and accidentally pulled the trigger with its thrashing tail, firing one of the barrels and shooting Ahani in the head, IRNA said.

The other hunter tried to grab the shotgun, but the writhing reptile triggered the other barrel, the agency said.

"I was lucky not to get hurt," the unidentified man was quoted as saying.

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