SNAKE IN FACTORY
Cyanide Gas Used (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 17. An intensive search at a Penrose factory has failed to find a 4ft black snake seen on the premises. by a nightwatchman at 4 a.m. today. The warehouse was fumigated with cyanide gas tonight. It will be opened up tomorrow and a further search for the snake made during the week-end. Police with a double-barrel shotgun, three Agriculture Department men and workers with batons combed the' boxlined store room today. The snake is thought to have come from Australia, Hong Kong, or Japan.. The factory imports material from all over the world. The alarm came at 4 a.m. when Mr R. Cottingham, head o' Southern Cross Security Services, heard a scraping sound. He saw a black snake tinged with blue like a starling’s wing. It was about 4ft long and 1| inches , in diameter. The snake shot about eight yards into another room.
Dr. R. A. Wheeler, a Government. veterinarian stationed in Auckland, said he could not identify the snake from the description but it could be poisonous. “It must be found and destroyed. New Zealand is a snake-free country and we want it to stay that way. If it is an egg-laying snake there is a possibility of little snakes being loose in New Zealand.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30419, 18 April 1964, Page 1
Word Count
218SNAKE IN FACTORY Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30419, 18 April 1964, Page 1
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