Sai Kung’s python battles continue. The latest saw Stacy Tucker and Colin Dyson wrestle a nine-footer off a dog called Pippa. Stacy and Colin are neighbours at Pak Tam Chung. Stacy owns Ferndale Kennels and Colin flies as a Cathay Pacific Captain. Both had gone walking a brace of dogs each, separately. They happened to meet on the rock-stepped trail at the back of Pak Tam Chung near the carpark.
Stacy takes up the story: “The big dogs were running ahead. Pippa, who’s smaller, was a bit behind them, running back and forth between us and the big dogs.
“We headed up the hill near the Government sign warning about pythons.
“Some of the dogs were running ahead, out of sight.
“One of the dogs started screaming. Colin and I ran towards it. We saw a snake had totally wrapped itself around Pippa.
“It had jumped out from an ambush point. It was biting Pippa’s belly.
“I grabbed its head. The fangs were stuck in Pippa’s skin. Fur was stuck in the snake’s mouth. It couldn’t let go.
“Colin uncoiled it from the tail. I kneeled on its body so it couldn’t re-coil. Pippa was so scared she was biting, trying to bite the snake, but getting us. I found a rock and stuck it in the snake’s mouth.”
The battle with the python may have gone on for more than 20 minutes, Stacy said. She and Colin became exhausted, shaking.
“Colin was quite calm, saying we needed to rest. Both my wrists were really bruised. Both of us had bite wounds from Pippa. Colin got a particularly bad one. Pippa’s skin was stuck in the snake’s mouth. Colin had a hold on its head. It kept coiling around my legs.”
Finally they got Pippa’s skin and fur out of the python’s month. Colin threw its head towards the bush. It slithered away. The snake did not try to attack them or bite them. It was Stacy’s impression that all the time it had been trying to get away.
Stacy said she has never been scared of snakes. “It is their territory. We just got on with doing what had to be done. I couldn’t have done it without Colin. I wouldn’t have had the strength.”
Pippa is nearly fully recovered, Stacy said. The bite marks on her side have healed and the fur is growing back. Pippa’s eyes, infused with blood because of the snake’s compression, are better too.
Stacy knows of four python attacks on dogs at Pak Tam Chung in recent years. Two dogs were eaten.
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