GOLD COAST BULLETIN (Molendinar, Australia) 04 December 08 Snake caught up in printer queue

Snakes often turn up in strange places, but this brown tree snake has decided to join the digital age.

It has set up home in a printer of Lismore couple Denis and Marie Matthews.

Marie is the publicity officer for the Friends of the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens and one of her jobs is to produce the group's monthly newsletter.

So when Brian, who is the group's secretary, went to print off the envelopes for the newsletter he couldn't get anything out of the printer.

That's when he found the metre long reptile curled up comfortably in the printer and causing a paper jam.

Denis managed to shift the reluctant snake with the help of a long pointer, but only after attempts to coach it out through the back of the printer failed.

``When I used a long pointer to encourage the snake to move, it reluctantly came out through the front, under the monitor screen and round the back of the computer case,'' he said.

But that isn't the end of the story.

The snake was still there the next day and Denis suspects it is still in the computer room as he frequently finds small objects knocked from shelves.

Luckily for Denis the snake doesn't seem to be typical of the species.

The nocturnal brown tree snake is often referred to as the night tiger and is usually very aggressive when confronted.

It is venomous, but thanks to the fangs being at the rear of the snake's mouth and also that the fangs are grooved rather than hollow, it is generally regarded as of little danger to adults, although it could kill a child.
Snake caught up in printer queue

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• AUS Press: Snake caught up in printer - W von Papineäu, Sat Dec 13 16:11:27 2008