Not Your Plumber's Snake

There are a lot of stories I'd dismiss as urban myths if the source weren't a newspaper. Like this one from Sydney's Daily Telegraph:

Toilet blocked by 2m snake

SCHOOL teacher Kate Poole called for help when she found her toilet was blocked – and couldn't work out why.

A plumber peered into the porcelain bowl – and found a huge snake looking back at him.

The 2m carpet python was living in the septic tank at the property in Howard Springs, 20km south of Darwin. Parks and Wildlife ranger Peter Phillips said the snake had probably poked its head out of the toilet "for a bit of a look around".

He tried to pull it out through the bowl – "but it was stuck around the S-bend".

The snake was finally caught by lifting the septic tank cover and using special tongs.

Ms Poole, 58, a part-time relief teacher, had met the snake before when it killed a baby possum that used to come to her door for a feed with its mother.

"It was crushing the possum," she said. "I managed to free the poor animal by lifting up the snake with a crutch but it was too late – the possum was dead." She didn't hold a grudge and was happy to see the python liberated from her toilet and septic tank.

Mr Phillips said the snake was a fine specimen – "he's got a nice big boof head and no sign of disease".

The operation brought back memories for plumber Mick Pittman – he used to catch crocodiles and is known as Crocodile Mick.