A TEENAGER from De Veldt, Berbice river travelled over 25 miles to have his shoes repaired by a cobbler, only to discover that he had transported a venomous labaria snake to New Amsterdam(NA).The teen, referred to as Randy, had approached the shoemaker at the NA Town Hall to have a pair of football boots stitched.
But before handing over the shoe, he was ordered to “shake out” the footwear.
Seconds later a brown snake, also known as “lance head,” and measuring about three feet, with a series of rectangular and trapezoidal markings, slithered from the boot on to the parapet and attempted to escape.
“Lash it! Lash It!” shouted an onlooker.
“Kill it! Kill it!” remarked another
“It ain’t dead yet!” screamed the cobbler.
“You got to cut off its head,” advised an elderly man, who was seated nearby.
I stood horrified, frozen at what was unfolding before my eyes. A snake, slithering from a boot. Unbelievable. Initially, I thought my imagination was playing games with me.
But it was true. Seconds earlier, I was preparing to hand over a pair of my son’s basketball boots to be stitched when the drama unfolded.
I quickly emptied my bag with the shoes before handing it over to the cobbler. “Will pick it up later,” I shouted, before rejoining the waiting car, and relating the incident to the passengers .