THE NATION (Bridgetown, Barbados) 04 January 09 Snakes 'still on the loose'
There are at least four snakes on the loose in Barbados and one of them is large enough to endanger human life.
Founder and president of the Caribbean Herpetological Society, Damon Corrie, said he had pointed out "some years ago" that at least ten snakes had either escaped or been released into Barbados.
"I can only advise the public that none of them is poisonous as they are all boids and three of the four are too small in size to pose a threat to human beings.
"The only folks who should be cautious and not allow their children to venture into gully areas to explore and play are the good people of the Mount Hillaby area – many of whom saw with their own eyes the 16-foot Burmese Python that a guy called Otis had as a pet and very irresponsibly released in their area some years ago," he said.
Corrie added that the particular snake could be long dead but, as he was not aware of a carcass ever having been found and he did not want to see a child harmed by it, he wished to warn residents of Mount Hillaby to exercise caution in remote areas, and not to allow their children to venture into the gullies that surround them without an adult, especially at night.
http://www.nationnews.com/story/314013672345857.php

THE NATION (Bridgetown, Barbados) 04 January 09 Letter: Ten-snake theory (Damon Gerard Corrie)
I did not intend on commenting publicly on the latest snake discovery and death in Barbados, but my phone line became so hot since your article that I am surprised it has not melted yet. Personally I think my OAS and UN work for indigenous rights is more important.
I would just like to point out that it was I, some years ago, who said "there are possibly up to ten escaped/released illegally imported pets I was aware of that may or may not still be at large in Barbados".
The capture of the first one by Inspector Wayne Norville of the RSPCA was not publicised (this occurred unbeknown to me prior to my "ten snake" estimate statement), and I subsequently did my own "investigation" and found out that the three boa constrictors that were cut to pieces in cane fields long before my estimate – were escapees from three different people I had factored into my ten estimate.
More recently, a six-foot escapee boa constrictor (from a facility that does not admit to this truth) was captured in St Andrew two hills away from where it was last spotted and I had last searched in vain for it (and it was well covered by THE NATION).
Most recently a four-foot boid was killed in the Mount Hillaby area. So this accounts for six of the ten.
At the time I had made the statement, people in high positions in this country preferred to disbelieve me and were of the opinion that there were no such large snakes "on the loose" and the public was either concocting tales or imagining the sightings.
More recently, a well-known radio personality was having a grand old time making fun of our efforts and asking where all the snakes had disappeared to in the last two years since there had been no further incidents.
To these people I will say again, there are at least four more I suspect to already be out there, and from time to time, one by one, the other four will be discovered.
In the interim I can only advise the public that none of them is poisonous as they are all boids (boas and pythons) and three of the four are too small in size to pose a threat to human beings.
The only folks who should be cautious and not allow their children to venture into gully areas to explore and play are the people of the Mount Hillaby area, many of whom saw with their own eyes the 16-foot Burmese python that a guy had as a "pet" and released in their area (very irresponsibly) some years ago.
It might be long dead (though I am not aware of a carcass ever having been found). If still alive, it could be feeding infrequently by night on the Barbados Green monkeys (as the monkeys sleep blissfully unaware) that are common in the surrounding gullies that contain water all year round.
It would need to feed only six to eight times per year on an adult monkey to survive. Residents of Mount Hillaby said fowls have disappeared and a large piece of shed skin was found by a plantation owner. I recall being told of this shed skin also but never met the man who said he was bringing it for me.
Romeo Yarde (Caribbean Herpetological Society member) was good enough to venture to meet with the Mount Hillaby folk and spent two hours answering their queries (up to that point they told him no one came to answer any of their questions and they were relieved that he had come). He met with a fellow whose nickname was "Smurf".
This fellow was the one who killed the four-foot snake with a hoe. Residents told Mr Yarde about the man and his large pet python (the one that many armchair critics here who know nothing at all are fond of saying "never existed".
He saw where the residents had burned the carcass of the four-foot snake to oblivion – thereby rendering positive ID impossible, though from THE NATION picture side profile of the specimen it looks to be a Guyana rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria maurus) – but until I see a top-view photograph I cannot be 100 per cent certain about the species.
Again, no one wishes Barbadians to be any more "snake-phobic" than they are already, but neither do I nor any Caribbean Herpetological Society member wish to see a child harmed by the one specimen that has the potential to do this (if it is still alive). That is why I urge Mount Hillaby residents to exercise caution in remote areas and to not allow their children to venture into the gullies that surround them without an adult – and certainly not at night.
I am preparing to do a search of the gullies surrounding Mount Hillaby, but this will depend on my securing many volunteers from within the Caribbean Herpetological Society membership (anyone interested in joining can freely do so at www.corriebusinessgroup.com/PetDepot/hs because from Mr Yarde's report there is a lot of ground to cover. Our goal would be to look for signs of a large boid, tracks, scat, sleeping areas, shed skin and so on.
If fortune smiles on us we will find it (or remains thereof) and relieve the stress and fear that many Mount Hillaby residents endure.
– Damon Gerard Corrie
Founder/President
Caribbean Herpetological Society
http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/355084208140618.php

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