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
