Slithery shock for Vinnies volunteers
THREE women barricaded themselves in a store after a frightening 15-minute encounter with a 5m python.
Retiree Stefania Rutherford, a volunteer at the St Vincent de Paul charity store in Ingham, said the snake, found yesterday, terrified another volunteer.
“We were working inside and one of the other workers said ‘don’t look, don’t look’ and we looked and there was this snake that actually came down from the roof,” Ms Rutherford said.
“One of the women was terrified – she just ran down the back – we rang the head of Vinnies here in Ingham to see who we could contact, nobody seemed to have any idea, but he rang the Council and the Council people came along. He told us to lock ourselves in.”
Ms Rutherford said a crowd of at least 50 people gathered to catch glimpses of the non-venomous snake, which was curled up on the footpath just outside the front door for about 15 minutes.
“It livened up Herbert St,” she said.
It took two men to lift the snake and place it in a bag.
Lorraine Johnston spotted the snake in the awning above the St Vincent de Paul charity store before it moved down to the floor.
She said the snake had an obvious bulge from its most recent meal.
“He’s obviously been eating bats, cats and dogs or whatever,” she said.
“It was quite exciting.” Born in New Zealand, Ms Johnston moved to Australian in 1981 and has lived in Ingham for the past 11 years.
She had never seen a snake so close before.
“That’s the closest I’ve been to a snake, I’ve been in Australia for 39 years.”