This is the carpet in my ceiling.
The colour patterns depend on the light source and the reflective surfaces near by.
Actually it is not carpet but a Carpet Python and to be honest she is too big to get into the ceiling anymore. As it is a warm place, it is winter now and there are sometimes rats there, it makes great home for a snake.
She is determined to visit her winter home but has grown too much at just under two metres long and ten centimetres in diameter, she cannot squeeze through the gaps under the iron. Here she is under the carport at the corner of the house.
After each attempt she has had to extract herself, rubbing the scales against the grain. What is that saying about stupidity is trying the same thing over and expecting a different result. While she is very beautiful I do not think she is all that bright.
What about this gap from a different angle?And yet again today June 5th! In this far and then backing out again. At least this spot the wood is smooth and there is no mesh above the joist for it to become stuck on. At least I hope it does not get stuck. I do not want to have to take the roof off. Can you see the snake's head on the right of the picture?
Well, it is said that one should not focus on what one does not want!
She got stuck. And after a night of struggling she was not in the best of health. Andy Mason, local computer whizz and 'snake man' came around to lend a hand. We loosened the screws above her and wedged up the roof. We removed the wire mesh at the left of the picture, hoping to remove her through that space. While she may have been weakened by the ordeal she was still able to take a firm hold in the wall space and we left her there. This was the last we saw of her.
But she may not have been a 'she' as Maria heard slithering and banging in the ceiling consistent with snakes fighting. This happened last year and the noise was so loud with the two pythons knocking each other's head against the ceiling that we moved into the spare room for the night. A Green Treesnake of similar length but a fraction the diameter is living in the ceiling at the moment but I do not think it would be them fighting as the size difference is too much. We have seen the treesnake returning to the roof at about 0930 on a couple of mornings recently.
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3 comments:
I think you need to cut a hole in your roof to let her back in!
Stewart
Lovely story. It's now Feb 2010 has he/she been back trying to become your 'ceiling carpet' once again or is she just way too big these days ?
Jude
He can get in if he uses the ridge capping.
On one hot afternoon the snake was partially under the roof but had squeezed its head under the guard around the top of the water tank. Just lying there cooling off.
I though I could lift the guard and get a photo but the lmovement frightened the snake into the tank. I had to completely remove the guard so it could swim around and then get out. Then it was happy to lie under the roof to warm up!
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