HUBBY’S PRANK PUTS THIS SAMARITAN ON THE SPOT

THE story of a snake that found its way into a house (GA, 17/5) brought back a memory from a long, long time ago.

At the time I worked as a design engineer with the Shire of Corio, and one day I received a phone call from the volunteer helpline (Citizens Advice

Bureau).

A lady living in a new Corio estate believed there was a snake in her house, could I help?

The estate was in an area called the “frog farm” because of its regular flooding before a drainage system was installed, so I wasn’t too surprised by the call.

The young lady I met at the home led me first into her lounge room where she had first heard the snake moving in the ceiling – I listened, no noise!

“Where did you last see or hear it,” I asked. “Down in the bedroom, and I think it is under the bed,” she said.

So I went down, and pulled all the bedding away, but still no reptile.

“How did it get inside,” I asked. “Oh, my husband dropped it in through the bathroom window” was the reply.

It was then I realised where I was – in the lady’s bedroom, bedding disturbed, and she in dispute with her husband.

If he came home now, what could I say, “oh we were looking for a snake!”

I’m sure the skid-marks I left on the road outside remained long after my more-than-abrupt departure back to the safety of my Osborne House office.

Trevor Pescott, Belmont