We once had six or more cobras escape from a pet shop in Springfield, Missouri. Thevenomous serpents were at large for more than 3 months terrifying the residents of the small Ozark community.The Sheriff organized "snake posses" and after frequent and repeated sightings, every attempt to capture or kill the cobras failed. Desperate, the Sheriff finally brought in an "Indian Snake Charmer" to charm the snakes with his "flute-gourd." He sat cross-legged in the back of a pickup truck and played his exotic tunes over loud speakers as they drove him about town. It didn't work. Which wasn't a surprise to trainedherpetologistsbecause snakes really can't hear--at least, not in the same sense as mammals "hear." Eventually the cobras were caught or killed. LIFE magazine printed an article called the Big Ozark Cobra Hunt.
Wild Swan (having a bit of a hissy fit)
Thank god they dont have sheep to contend with in East Anglia
You may recall the East Anglian police force who were recently "cowed" by a runaway farm animal and brought out the SWAT team to deal with the said ruminant, managing to miss it completely at first with 21st century weaponry and then killing the poor thing.
The same police have now been sent out to deal with a rather cross (and injured) swan. Three officers, a patrol car and a riot van were sent to deal with this creature at a cost of about 600.
Fortunately, someone at the site had read P G Wodehouse. Anyone who had read the story about Bertie Wooster and Mr Filmer being trapped on the roof of small summer house on an island in the lake at his Bertie's aunt's house (Aunt Agatha, that is, the one who bites the heads of rats) will recall that both men were rescued by Jeeves. The swan, in this case, having endless "reserves of neck" was taunting them and Jeeves took a raincoat and threw it over the swan, allowing Bertie and his companion to escape.
The police in this latest battle of man versus fauna, found a sheet and threw it over the wretched bird and took it to a local river.
We now await the next episode in this series of adventures with East Anglian police.
updated by @gaynor-madoc-leonard: 12/15/15 11:28:07AM
