Snake story from Southeast Asia:
When I first arrived at a radar station supporting the Vietnam War, the equipment was located in dimly lit hemispherical tents mounted on low platforms in a swampy area. Large cables hung in the rafters and under the floor. While on night duty, I sometimes noticed movement in overhead cables. At first I thought king cobra due to the apparent large size but after conferring with the nearby herpetology center, I learned that local cobras would not display that behavior. The herpetologist -- snake scientist -- joked that the only venomous snake that would live like that would be a rare very mature variety of green tree snake.
I reported the information to incredulous NCO's who discounted the idea even after another member known for heavy alcohol use claimed he came face-to-face with an enormous reptile while installing overhead cable.
Months later when we moved the equipment to a Butler building on higher ground, we found a gigantic green snake under the floorboards. Exposed to daylight it actually chased the senior NCO around the cleared area until subdued with a fire extinguisher plus several improvised long "snake sticks". The herpetology center carried off the creature before we could film or measure it but its length was well over 2 meters, possibly over 8 feet long. Deprived of its usual prey of birds and bats, it lived mostly on other snakes, reptiles and fish. Once the big predator was removed we noticed an uptick in small snakes in that area such as banded kraits -- a tiny but deadly reptile with no fear of humans; so-called "one-step" kraits.
When I first arrived at a radar station supporting the Vietnam War, the equipment was located in dimly lit hemispherical tents mounted on low platforms in a swampy area. Large cables hung in the rafters and under the floor. While on night duty, I sometimes noticed movement in overhead cables. At first I thought king cobra due to the apparent large size but after conferring with the nearby herpetology center, I learned that local cobras would not display that behavior. The herpetologist -- snake scientist -- joked that the only venomous snake that would live like that would be a rare very mature variety of green tree snake.
I reported the information to incredulous NCO's who discounted the idea even after another member known for heavy alcohol use claimed he came face-to-face with an enormous reptile while installing overhead cable.
Months later when we moved the equipment to a Butler building on higher ground, we found a gigantic green snake under the floorboards. Exposed to daylight it actually chased the senior NCO around the cleared area until subdued with a fire extinguisher plus several improvised long "snake sticks". The herpetology center carried off the creature before we could film or measure it but its length was well over 2 meters, possibly over 8 feet long. Deprived of its usual prey of birds and bats, it lived mostly on other snakes, reptiles and fish. Once the big predator was removed we noticed an uptick in small snakes in that area such as banded kraits -- a tiny but deadly reptile with no fear of humans; so-called "one-step" kraits.