SNAKE FEAR!

Barbados Defence Force to help trap 18-foot python, other snakes

(Special to the Guyana Chronicle)

REPORTS are that Bajans are locking up their windows tight at night and making extra sure all the chickens, goats and lambs are secure.

And they aren't forgetting the pet dog Spot or Rover! There are even warnings for children not to swim in pools and patches of water.

Reason: ten big snakes, probably let go by pet lovers after they grew too large, are on the loose somewhere on the 166-square mile island. They include a Burmese python, boa constrictor, anaconda and other less harmful species.

And the Barbados government, fearing some tragedy, has ordered the Barbados Defence Force to assist local pet shop owner Damon Corrie to locate and capture the elusive reptiles.

Corrie, whose mother is Guyanese and father Trinidadian and who married a woman from St Cuthbert's Mission in Guyana, said there have been definite sightings mainly in the southern Christ Church parish and St Thomas parish on the east coast. They've found six-inch wide tracks probably made by the slithering snakes. Then, there have been findings of fresh snake stool, he said.

Some of the species reported on the loose can get quite large - up to 30 feet long. They can be dangerous, such as wrapping around the victim and breaking up all bones so as to make it easier for swallowing. Bajans are worried.

Problem is, Corrie was a one-man effort, with an assistant, up until recently. Then it was announced by the government that ranks of the Defence Force and equipment including night vision and motion sensor gear, would be thrown in for the search.

That should bring some results, if the snakes have managed to survive.

Corrie told journalists it was unlikely that there would be a surge in the snake population in the Eastern Caribbean island which has little forest and virtually no rivers. He explained that because the snakes are different species they cannot inter-breed.

Additionally, the island is full of mongoose - brought to Barbados two centuries ago to deal with snakes and rats in the sugar industry. The mongoose will probably keep the numbers down.

Barbados does have a small indigenous grass snake. It grows to about three feet long and is quite harmless. Animal lovers on the island are urging people not to get into a "panic situation" and start killing out this species.

Corrie lashed out at those pet lovers who smuggled in small snakes as pets and then when they grew big and dangerous let them loose in the wild. He also called on the authorities to put a bite on their importation.

The Barbadian public, undoubtedly including the Guyanese immigrant community and those on work permits, are being urged to avoid playing 'hero' if they see the larger, potentially more dangerous, snakes. Watch it from a distance and monitor its movements is the advice.

Aside from the situation being fertile ground for the columnists in the two main daily papers in the island (references to "snakes in the grass" are common) it has resulted in crank calls to the media. Barbados police have announced they are looking for an individual who notified a local radio station that he helped Corrie trap two of the snakes. Corrie denied it.

One columnist, Guyana-born Dawn Morgan, wrote one of the better pieces in the Daily Nation. She joked that people are saying "so many Guyanese in the place now, Bajans know yuh cud eat snake." But Morgan corrected them: "But Bajans would be surprised at how many Guyanese are just as afraid of snakes as they are, and how few have eaten a piece of snake. And I don't expect any snake stew would be available at the Guyanese Independence picnic (organised by the Consulate) yesterday."

She went on: "My dad had an interesting experience in the bush in Guyana. He said he sat down on a fallen tree trunk to eat his lunch, and it moved. He moved much faster, since he is among those who are terrified of every and any snake."

Meantime, the fears continue. Paranoia appears to be creeping in. Reports are that a frantic call came in to Corrie's hotline from a desperate sounding resident of Christ Church parish. He hollered that he heard a "hissing noise" outside his house. Could the snake swat team come out quick!

As it turned out, the hissing noise was from water forced out of a ruptured pipe.