GYMPIE TIMES (Australia) 01 January 11 Snake evicted from cosy home (Arthur Gorrie)
Vanessa McDonald had an unusual house guest the other night, a suddenly homeless and seriously injured python.
The 2 metre python had been luxuriously ensconced in the nice warm engine bay of a Gympie pensioner’s car.
Fortuitously enough, a family of mice had been equally attracted to the warmth of the vehicle engine and had set up house there, all unnoticed as a result of all the panels and covers and complexities that are now commonplace under the bonnets of our cars.
Vanessa, who seems to have a greater than average tolerance of wildlife, helped get the snake out from its hiding place, after its tail was seen hanging down from under the front mudguard of the car, while it was parked outside Gympie’s Goldfields Plaza shopping centre in Monkland Street.
“Apparently the mice moved in and the snake followed, keeping warm and feeding on the mice,” Vanessa told The Gympie Times.
“He reckons he drove about 200km with the snake taking a free ride,” she said.
“I had to find him in his hiding place (underneath all the engine attachments) and pull him out.
“I rang Australia Zoo but their volunteer in Gympie couldn’t get around.
“They said I should bring it in myself, but I drive a six-cylinder car and I could not afford to drive that far. The snake was injured, possibly by being caught between the car’s tyre and the mudguard.
“It seems to have been trying to get out and he’s driven off,” she said.
Vanessa said she had to accommodate the python in her TV cabinet for the night, while she puzzled over what to do.
“I’ll probably feed him for a few days, because he is injured and then take him out and release him back to the wild,” she said.
Snake evicted from cosy home