Wait…what became of those snakes that were slithering around Barbados? Did somebody catch them? Did they die out? Did they disappear? Oh, I remember.
The next hot topic came along.
Source: BU Email
BU received an email from a person who pleaded with us to highlight that the large snakes which were discussed in all the media last year have not yet been found. Her concern centered around the type of snake which is on the lose – the boa constrictor which is known to have strangled or swallowed a small child. Someone once said that Barbadians have short memories and the snake story is a good example.
Here is a video of a boa constrictor (red tail) at work:
Remember that at the height of the public hysteria surrounding the snakes, people were calling a private citizen by the name of Damon Corrie to report on snake sightings. Corrie later became frustrated because government had not allocated adequate resources to equip him to find the snakes, and he scaled down his private manhunt. The government under the Ministry of the Environment, if we recall correctly, established a Task Force and a 24 hour hot line to respond to the concerns of the public. Corrie was included on the Task Force. After receiving the note from a concerned BU commenter, we decided to investigate the progress of the Task Force since its establishment around mid-2006. First, we had someone call the hotline number 467-5757; the call appeared to have been forwarded to a mobile number which was answered by someone in a very informal manner. Our caller was a little taken back by the response but moved on when the voice confirmed that he had reached the Task Force hotline number established to investigate snake sightings. The information which struck us for six was when the person representing the Task Force express annoyance, when we asked if any snakes had been captured recently and what was the Task Force doing to proactively catch the snakes. The person promptly stated that “yuh wuddah read um in de newspaper, we does only investigate if sumboddie call we.”
We are sorry that we have to come to a conclusion that here is another occasion where Barbadians show concern, and then as in the case with so many other issues, they are forgotten until something tragic happens. Minister of the Environment, Elizabeth Thompson, was very vocal during the period mid last year when there was the public cry on snakes. It is unfortunate that these kind of issues have been relegated by her ministry in favor of the more important deposits of natural resources speculated to exist in Barbados waters.
To our concerned BU emailer, we recommend that you write a letter to Minister Elizabeth Thompson expressing the same concerns which you forwarded to us.
Good Luck!
Here is a story carried by Barbados Free Press back in July, 2006 on the capture of a 7 foot boa in Barbados.
Leave a Reply to Wishing in VainCancel reply