A heart-thudding episode!!!

 

THUD!!!!!

The sound was rather unusual  - more so because it was followed by  high pitched squeaking squealing  sounds.  I was in the inner room just getting ready to start the days work. The sound had come from the dining area side which has a high tiled roof.  I often see snakes on the rafters looking for rats. 

An old pic of a snake on the rafters

My guess was that a snake must have fallen down while trying to catch its prey.

I wasn’t wrong – as I peeped out cautiously from the connecting doorway I saw a large motionless lump next to the fridge just near the other door that leads to the hall.  I just couldn’t make out what it was.  The light wasn’t too bright and it was in the shadow of the fridge. I went closer and shone the torch on it.

Prey -tell me what is it!!!!

 It was a snake that had wrapped itself tight against a helpless rat whose squeals were slowly diminishing and fading.  What was heart-stoppingly scary was that Perl was too close to the snake on the other side of it.  She had the most curious expression and looked as if she would nudge the lump with her nose.  

“Perl -NO” I yelled at her and she backed off a bit. Zuki had followed me and was within my reach and I could hold her back. But not Perl.  Thankfully my farm-hand was back from delivering the milk and I called out to him with a “Kooooieeee”

 A Kooiee  is  a standard way the locals call one another -a way of throwing your voice farther than a normal shout would go.  I think I have gotten quite good at it because unlike most time when I walk out onto the porch to ‘Kooiieee’ today I was yelling it from within the house -just hoping he would hear it.  Luckily he did and replied back.

 It wasn’t yet time for his breakfast kooiieee so I guess he realized it was something unusual – I could hear him walk towards the house. “Come carefully and try to catch Perl -There is a snake here”  I said.  He came in thru the main door and managed to catch Perl and pull her back -looking wide eyed at the immobile lump on the floor. 

 “Leave it alone”  he said  “Danger Snake”

  “No - We have to get this out of the house – Think of an idea…” I said.  He had the most doubtful look on his face. 

I looked around – there was a large plastic tub which could cover the whole lump without touching it.  As I picked it up “Aagudilla - It won’t work” he said.   I asked him to move back a bit, I did not want the snake to unleash itself from its prey – it was such a tight bundle – you could not make out the head or tail portion of the snake.  All I could see was that it did not seem to be the usual Rat snake cos it had white markings on it.  If it unleashed in my direction, I had the tub like a shield.

S...l…o…w…l…y……..step closer………… steady your hands…………….and……………. gently place the inverted tub over the lump!!!!

Whheeew-  a sigh of relief!

Perl looking curiously
- Why did you cover it up?  It would have been interesting to watch the snake devour the prey - she seems to say

 – What next now? 

  “Leave it there”  he repeated.

“Look for a sheet”  I said.  I meant a hard sheet that I could slide under the tub and then carry the whole thing out of the house.

“Aagudilla…”

I could not think of a  large enough sheet with a  flat edge.  The lids of the cow feed drums would be large enough but they have  a 2 inch high border around the circumference – impossible to slide it under the ‘thing’  without letting the inmate escape

A couple of large  plastic gunny bags caught my eye. This would be perfect if the whole tub could go into it. I picked one.

“Aagudilla”….again!

Will this sack be large enough?

Hold this edge down tight I instructed pointing towards the edge of the sack opening,  and slowly tried to slide the tub into the open sack.  A couple of failed attempts – the tub wasn’t sliding as expected, the material kept folding up   -  I realized the lad was holding down the edge of the tub tight!!!

Leave that and hold the edge of the sack flat and down I instructed.   He looked doubtful, probably the thought of the ‘thing’ being slid an inch away from his hand wasn’t a comforting thought.  Look I am holding this side down I said.  He gingerly held the other side down and this time I could successfully slide  the tub right into the sack – there was no resistance from the inmate – just a little struggle for me to not let the sack fold up and not raise the edge of the tub too much!

Finally it was all in – the snake, its prey and the tub. I lifted it and bunched up the mouth of the sack really tight and handed it over asking him to  release it a little away from the house. He was back after some time – “Danger Haavu(snake)”  he said. 

Yes it was I guess!

Epilogue 

 

 The same snake was back on the rafters a few days later.  Guess its fall did not bother him much.  This time it was the sound of a dry leaf falling a few feet away from where I was sitting at my table, that alerted me to its presence.  And no the photo is not very clear, so if anyone can still identify the snake, it would be great!

He sat motionless curled around the  rafters for more than an hour. Finally I alerted the lad.

He came back with a long pole - a slight nudge and the  sluggish snake slithered out of sight through the layers of overlapping tiles.  I tried to catch a glimpse of it from outside the house, but it had disappeared  out of sight!

Well, out of sight - out of mind!

Until the next time I hear the sound of a falling leaf!