You can only imagine Kathie Reardon’s horror when she rounded a corner in her Manning Street, Tuncurry shop and came face-to-face with a rather large red bellied black snake.
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The encounter was enough to make Kathie run; something the mother of six says she never does.
“I was going to get a drink and as I came around the corner I heard a hissing sound,” she said of her split second meeting with the three metre reptile on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 29.
“I don’t run ever, but I did this time; I was terrified,” she said.
While the snake’s entry point and how long it had been on the premises remains a mystery, Kathie speculates it could have slithered through the ajar back door.
Kathie, husband Mark and 16-year-old son Connor had been busy shifting and relocating stock after moving their Tuncurry Auto Spares business earlier in the week.
Although terrified about sharing premises with a snake, Kathie needed to locate the unwanted visitor, ‘or the shop would have to be closed’, she laughed.
Standing on a chair, she peered into the toilet where the snaked had slithered in its haste to escape Kathie’s horrified screams.
Confirming it was still there, she closed the door, but only after her strapping six foot son bravely poked his head around the corner for a quick video.
After ringing the police, council and resident snake catcher John Smith – who was not available – Kathie got in touch with Dave Borg who was on the scene in a matter of minutes, bagged the snake and relocated it safely.
Meanwhile, husband Mark missed all the action
A man of few words, Dave Borg described the snake as “very big”.
While a bite from the red bellied black snake is generally not fatal, its size (1.5-2 metres) and demeanour are enough to strike fear into anyone.
Jeanene Duncan
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
