Captured python released in forest

THE 3m-long python which terrified a family in their Tampines flat is now back in the wild where it belongs.

The New Paper, 8 Jul

After being caught on Monday, the reptile spent the night in an enclosed empty fish tank in the corridor outside the flat.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) officers yesterday offered to take the snake to the zoo.

But Miss Charmaine Tan, 24, a part-time sales assistant, and her brother chose to release it into the wild instead.

At about 3pm, her boyfriend dropped by to pick up the tank and drove to a forested area in Mandai to release the snake.

Said Miss Tan: 'My brother and I feel responsible for the python, and since it's a wild animal, we thought that it shouldn't be held captive.'

The New Paper reported yesterday that the python had made its way into the Tans' 12th-floor flat in Tampines.

The family called a pest control company, but they ended up catching the python themselves after they couldn't agree on a price.

Miss Tan and her father, Christopher, 52, a housing agent, then put it into a pillowcase and secured it by tying a knot.

They placed the pillowcase into a 50cm-long fish tank that Miss Tan's boyfriend had brought.

Very strong

The family placed a metal sheet on top of the tank and weighed it down with bricks so the snake, which Mr Tan described as strong, could not escape.

Mr Tan covered the glass portion of the tank so that their neighbours would not be alarmed.

'We knew that the snake couldn't escape since it was tied up inside the pillow case and was in the glass tank,' said Miss Tan.

When her brother, full-time national serviceman Mark Tan, 20, returned home at about 7pm on Monday night, he called the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) to pick up the snake.

But he was told that Acres could not keep the snake.

'Instead, they told us to release it into a heavily forested area,' said Miss Tan.

She said that she knew of only two forests - in Mandai and MacRitchie. Since the Mandai forest is more isolated, Miss Tan and her brother decided to release the snake there.

An AVA spokesman said that it was not illegal to release the snake into the jungle.

I'd do it myself

SHE was doing her ironing in the living room of her HDB flat when she heard a loud thud.

LOOK WHAT THEY FOUND! Mr Christopher Tan, 52, tries to force the 3m snake out of its hiding place at the top of the shelf. Mr Tan puts the snake in a pillowcase held by his daughter Charmaine Tan, 24. TNP PICTURES: KELVIN CHNG

Thinking that something had fallen, Mrs Allysia Tan checked the flat, but did not find anything amiss.

Five minutes later, she heard another, softer, thud.

This time, when she went into the master bedroom, she was horrified to see a snake about 3m long, slithering on the floor.

Frightened by the snake, which she described as grey with green spots and huge fangs, she ran out of the room.

The incident happened at about 12.20pm on Monday when Mrs Tan and her daughter, Chrissia, 6, were in their four-room flat at Block 409, Tampines Street 41.

Their unit is on the 12th storey, the highest in the block.

Mrs Tan, 40, said she called the police and was told by an officer that he would call her back.

She said that when she called the Tampines Town Council, she was told that it could not help as the snake was not in a public area.

Mrs Tan then called her housing agent husband, Mr Christopher Tan, 52, and SMSed her eldest daughter, Miss Charmaine Tan, 24.

Mr Tan told The New Paper: 'I thought my wife was exaggerating about the size of the snake. I didn't expect that such a huge snake can be found in a HDB flat.'

Mrs Tan figured that the snake probably made its way into the house through the master bedroom window.

'The first sound I heard could be from it falling onto the aircon compressor, and the second sound from it falling on the room's floor,' she said.

She said the police officer called her back at about 12.45pm and gave her the number of a pest control company, PestBusters.

By this time, Mr Tan had rushed home from his office in Toa Payoh.

When Mrs Tan called PestBusters, she said she was quoted $120 for the snake to be removed. She agreed to the price.

Mr Tan found the snake in the wardrobe of the master bedroom.

'I moved a plastic box inside and saw the snake,' he said.

'I jumped back in shock. It was coiled up around the metal poles of the shelves.'

Pest controllers

While waiting for the pest controllers, Mr Tan tried to catch the snake using a bamboo pole with the help of The New Paper photojournalist Kelvin Chng, who arrived at the scene at 1.45pm.

But the snake tried to attack them, and they gave up.

At 2.30pm, Miss Tan, a part-time sales assistant, arrived home after work.

She said that based on her knowledge of reptiles, the snake looked like a reticulated python. Native to South-east Asia, it's the world's longest snake and can grow up to 9m.

Miss Tan showed us a book on reptiles and also called her younger brother, Mark, a 20-year-old NSF, who was in camp.

Based on her description, he agreed that it was most probably a reticulated python.

He told Miss Tan that they should use gloves to grab the snake and put it into a pillow case.

At 2.45pm, two pest controllers arrived.

After seeing the snake, they told the Tans they would have to charge them $550 as the snake was longer than they expected. (See report above, right).

Mr Tan said: '$550? I might as well do it myself.'

Then, he grabbed the snake's head, while Miss Tan caught hold of the tail.

They put the snake inside a pillow case, tied and put the case into a empty fish tank, which they covered with a metal sheet, with bricks on top.

Miss Tan's boyfriend then carried the tank and placed it outside their flat.

Miss Tan said she contacted wildlife charity Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) on Monday night to pick up the snake.

When The New Paper checked with her last night, she said the snake was still outside their unit.

The Tans threw out the shelves in their wardrobe as the snake had urinated on them.

Miss Tan joked: 'Maybe the snake was scared too.'