[b:f81b051370]The Visit[/b:f81b051370]
AdventNet’s B wing received a strange visitor last night. He introduced himself to Jeri John Prabhu as Mr.Snake and took a nice dark warm shelter under one of the draws behind Ranjith DSM’s table. Jeri was jaw-dropped 
seeing the snake crawling across the floor and moving under the table. He immediately rushed to the security and soon some 10 people gathered near Ranjith’s cubicle.
[b:f81b051370]Weapons of Snake Destruction[/b:f81b051370]
All we could get immediately was a compact latti from security people. Later there came the 3 foot long heavy wood which is sure enough to smash the snake. It was dark under the table and the snake rested in the gap between the drawer and table partition. The electrical maintenance people provided an emergency lamp and we were now able to see the snake clearly. 
[b:f81b051370]Escape to Jambav School[/b:f81b051370]
Seeing the sudden wave of light.. the snake sneaked under the partition and managed to enter the Jambav School. We quickly moved near the Jambav door and watched.. it crawled quickly and rested in the middle of the room. We opened the door and stretched our hands.. groped the wall hoping to find the switches.. and yes, finally managed to switch the lights on. Again the light made the snake to go nervous and it crept again to the opposite partition. We closed the door immediately and watched it entering the other meeting room.
[b:f81b051370]Meeting Point[/b:f81b051370]
When the snake was half way thru.. Jeri entered Jambav School and attempted to hit the floor near its tail. Unfortunately, it hit the Here too we switched on the lights.. and the snake found itself nowhere to go. The snake was very nervous again and made a blind jump against the wall.. pity, it was cornered. It crawled along the table and crawled towards the door. We closed the door and locked it. Seeing no way to escape, the snake crawled back behind the table and rested there.
[b:f81b051370]To hit or not to hit[/b:f81b051370]
We made a quick discussion about what to do next. We first decided to keep the snake inside the room itself. We found some newspapers and stuffed them under the partition to block the under-partition-passage. There was two plans. One to hit the snake with the latti and wooden log. Two is to get the help of Fire-Brigade. As we do not know what snake that was … whether a venomous one or harmless water snake, we decided to get the fire-brigade help. Sasi called up the Police first… who then suggested to approach Fire-brigade. When contacted, fire-brigade gave the phone number of a professional snake-catcher, who in turn re-directed to contact the forest office in velachery check-post, as that was close to us. 
[b:f81b051370]Action Stations[/b:f81b051370]
Sasi and Srinivas visited the forest office and returned with the snake-catcher. He was armed with a long iron stick with a hook at the end and a cloth bag to carry the snake. Till he arrived, we kept a close eye on the snake’s movement. Even managed to move near the table and shoot a small clip [1.preview-shot.3gp]. The snake was quite calm now and it didn’t move. The snake catcher entered the room, and used the iron stick to pull the snake out to light. We were watching everything standing outside the room. [2.TheMeeting.3gp].
After a minute of observation, he managed to drive the snake a little away from the table.. and again the snake attempted a swirling jump in the air. Unbelievable.. and damn fast that was.. you should see that in real ! The snake catcher managed to hold it to the floor with the iron stick. [3.FlyingSnake.3gp] The snake swirled around the stick and bitten a couple of times. But no use. The snake catcher, without taking away the iron stick, moved it slowly over the snake’s body and successfully reached the snake’s neck. Pressing a little hard, he moved his left hand near to the head. Then he slowly moved the stick over the head and the snake was pushed to close it mouth. He quickly locked the head using left hand thumb and index finger. 
Keeping the stick away, he lifted the snake [4.Arrested.3gp] and walked across the room holding the snake by its head and tail. We were able to see the snake clearly now. It was around 3 feet in length and 1.5″ in diameter. He said the snake is an harmless one.. the water snake variety. Non-venomous. But when bitten may leave their teeth buried in our skin, leading to septic and infection. He opened his cloth bag, dropped the snake into it and roped the opening tightly [5.Lockup.3gp].
[b:f81b051370]The Drama concludes[/b:f81b051370]
The snake catcher, Sasi and Srinivas drove back to Velachery forest office. [6.Movingout.3gp and 7.SnakeInTheCar.3gp] Signed a govt paper there and learned that the snake will be taken to Vandalur Zoo. As per policy they will not kill any snakes or animals. Captured animals are transported to vandalur zoo in the next few days and will be released into the natural habitat.
[b:f81b051370]Safety and Conclusion[/b:f81b051370]
Nobody knows how the snake checked into AdventNet. The B Wing’s glass doors are leveled equally to the ground level with an inch gap below. Luckily today someone noticed it.. and even lucky it’s an non-venomous one. But what if no-one notices such entry?
The network room is very close to the entrance and if snakes could get pass under the partition, they can find a good shelter in those crazy huge UTP cabling in the router/switch racks. The construction garbage in the gap between multivista and invensys wings are possible sources for snake/rat shelters. Also the windows must be checked for locks. A open window / broken glass in window will easily let in a snake or rat inside.
The photos and videos (shot using mobile camera) are attached ! Enjoy. You need Quicktime Player or Nokia Media Player to watch the videos.