SNAKE IN CREVICE

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3471, 26 May 1934, Page 5

SNAKE IN CREVICE

KII.I.KI) OX V[ U Sll > DAY. There was great excitement at Belmore, New South Wales recently, when a black snake, about 6ft. or 7ft. in length, crawled into a crevice 50ft long and 2in. wide, between two buildings, and defied the attempts of civilians, police, and the district fire officer to dislodge it. The snake was first seen in the back yard of a confectionery shop and dwelling in Burwood Road. It was probably attracted by birds in an aviary there. It was disturbed, and took refuge in the crevice. Then there began a siege which lasted until nightfall. Many methods were adopted to dislodge the reptile. A crowd collected, and gave advice to the worried occupants of the dwellings and to the police, who attempted to deal with the situation. Shots fired at the snake were ineffective. Stones were thrown along the crevice, but the snake treated them with contempt. A hoy in the crowd ran to his home and reappeared in no time with a mouth organ. He played a mournful air, hut the snake refused to he charmed. Other mouth organs and even violins were produced and played, hut the increased volume of sound —it was not music—failed to change the snake’s retiring disposition.

At length the police were forced to seek the aid of the fire brigade.

Mr O’Toole, of the St. George distinct fire brigade, came by car. He directed an ordinary garden hose into the crevice until water several inches in depth submerged the (bottom of it. But black snakes can swim, and this one did not appear to object to its enforced bath. At Mr O’Toole’s direction, a piece of cork was tied on the end of a length of string and an effort was made to float it from one end of the narrow space between the buildings to the other. If this move had been successful, it was intended that wire should be drawn between the two buildings to enable some sort of purchase to be gained on the snake. The cork did not float far enough, and the snake peered, unimpressed, at its baffled pursuers.

Efforts were then made to frighten the snake out by poking wire into the other end of the crevice. But any hope of the snake being persuaded to crawl out was dashed by the size and noise of the crowd on the footpath.

At length, Mr O’Toole confessed himself beaten for the day. A rabbit trap was set, and each end of the crevice was blocked for the night, leaving the snake virtually a prisoner. The following day the snake continued to defy all attempts to capture it, despite the fact that a large crowd of unemployed men persisted in their attempts until late in the afternoon. The only result of their efforts was to drive it further into the crevice. Besides trying to poke out the snake with sticks, the men tried a new ruse. They poured petrol into the crevice through a pipe and ignited it, but even this was received with no more than a baleful glare from the reptile. Next day, however, the snake met its match. The Mayor of Canterbury, Alderman S. E. Parry, took a hand. He brought out the rifle he had used during the war, and his first shot struck the snake, which was just visible in the narrow crack between the brick walls. A hook was attached to a prop, and the dead reptile was dragged out.