(Trinidad Guardian) “The snake big like a man’s neck!”
That’s how a Rousillac resident described the snake that slithered into her neighbour’s wash tub when she made the frantic call to the Forestry Division for help.
Savitri and her mother 78-year-old mom Polly Boodoo were greeted with the macajuel curled up in the wash tub when they returned to their Mon Desir Road home on Wednesday morning after visiting the health clinic.
“My caregiver say ‘come and see if this is a stuffed toy in the sink.’” She was not expecting to see a snake when she turned on the light from her cellphone.
“It is not a stuffed toy. It is a huge snake,” said Savitri. Savitri Boodoo did not dare go close to it. Instead, she ran across the road and called her neighbour.
Her mother, however, was very excited.
To her daughter’s dismay, she kept going up close to the reptile to get a good look.
“You go come and see a big snake and you will not feel good and excited,” declared the elderly woman.
She also opined that it could have been Lord Shiva, a Hindu deity who has a snake around his neck. The seven and a half feet, 70-pound snake was captured by Game Warden 2 Andy Singh and his colleagues Bisham Madhu and Jeremy Dindial.
It was subsequently released in the southern watershed game sanctuary between Quinam and Mon Diablo beaches.
Singh explained that these snakes were not venomous, but could grow up to 13 feet and weigh up to 150 pounds.
Within the last eight years, he said they have been receiving numerous calls about snakes being found in people’s properties in Rousillac and surrounding areas.
He attributed these sightings to a lot of deforestation taking place, including the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway, which is destroying their habitats.
He said flooding would also force them to find alternative places to rest.
