Schooldays: The Day A Snake Came To Class.

@Kandae11 (57233)

April 9, 2022 8:03pm CST

I was about six years old at the time and l remember the incident clearly enough. The schoolhouse was built on stilts ( like the house pictured above) a typical design for houses in that region. One morning shortly after classes had started for the day, the huge snake was spotted making its way up the many steps leading to the doorway. A student who was late for class raised an alarm and my father - who was the school's headmaster - along with the bigger students apprehended the snake before it could enter the classroom. Some expressed the belief that the snake making its way up the steps was an omen and that something bad was about to happen. Well, the next day my father was called to settle a dispute between two warring families. He eventually had to send someone to the mainland to fetch a constable. The person traveled by speedboat and the journey took about an hour.There was no police stationed on that island. Would you live on an island where there is no police.?We moved to the city when l was eight years old.

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16 responses

@DaddyEvil (174336)

• United States

10 Apr 22

Did they cook and eat the snake or release him back into the wild away from people?

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@DaddyEvil (174336)

• United States

10 Apr 22

@Kandae11 Mom cooked it. I was maybe 10 years old. Different types of snakes are all over in Missouri. We don't normally see them in the city but I grew up on a farm 10 km, roughly, from the city.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

No one ate snakes on that island - even though there were enough of them. I don't remember what exactly happened to the snake, but l do recall walking through a wooded area near our house and l noticed a rather large one coiled up in a fruit tree. Could have been the same one, or its cousin.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

@DaddyEvil. You willingly ate snake? Who prepared it? I could never even touch a snake- if l saw one now l might get a heart attack. That island was in South America.l am now living in the Caribbean where snakes there are very few snakes.

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@DianneN (254949)

• United States

10 Apr 22

I would have moved the second I saw a snake slithering up the stairs! I wouldn't live on an island, as pretty as they are.

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@DianneN (254949)

• United States

10 Apr 22

@Kandae11 We have a lot of islands off the coast of Connecticut and New England for that matter. Some are fabulous and others not so much. I guess it depends which island you live on. A friend of mine lives on an island off the coast of Maine. Tough living there in the winter, taking a boat to go shopping, providing her own electricity, etc. Not for me.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

@DianneN. I can't imagine you in such a situation. Have you ever gone camping in the woods?

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

Not all islands are pretty - in my view that one wasn't.

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@RebeccasFarm (91299)

• United States

10 Apr 22

I might live on an island with no police now..that is how it is here right now

Well now that is quite the story and your Father was the headmaster how about that Kandase

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

He was also the Pastor for the only church in the square.

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@RebeccasFarm (91299)

• United States

10 Apr 22

@Kandae11 A great man he was then. You had a good Father

He had a lot of responsibility.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

@RebeccasFarm Those were not happy days. Happiness began for me when we left that island. Strangely enough l wouldn't mind paying a visit there sometime in the future. Seeing what changes , if any were made over the decades.

@DWDavis (25797)

• United States

10 Apr 22

Do you remember what kind of snake it was? I wouldn't mind living on an island with no police if I was the only one living on the island.

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@DWDavis (25797)

• United States

10 Apr 22

@Kandae11 I've reached the point where I'm so fed up with such a large percentage of my fellow humans that I find the idea of living alone on an island an attractive alternative.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

All l remember is that it was huge. There were about thirty other families living there but they were so scattered that we hardly ever saw them. In fact we had no neighbors. It won't be any fun being the only one on an island. I remember lots and lots of fruit trees. There was no shortage of food on that island.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

@DWDavis l know what you mean. Sometimes l daydream about it, but my dream includes at least 50 hand picked persons to live there with me.

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@LadyDuck (502343)

• Italy

10 Apr 22

So it was true, the snake was a bad omen. I am not sure I would like to live on an island where there is no police.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

I agree. It is not exactly safe because regardless of where you are people are still people.

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@LadyDuck (502343)

• Italy

11 Apr 22

@Kandae11 - This is also my opinion. My husband wanted to move to an Island in the Caribbean, I have always been against for many reasons.

@CarolDM (203396)

• Nashville, Tennessee

10 Apr 22

What a scary memory. Police are needed to keep peace and an island might be a good place to be right now.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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11 Apr 22

@DWDavis expressed the same sentiments.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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11 Apr 22

@CarolDM. Oh yes. But then he might be the only one there or with his immediate family.

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@CarolDM (203396)

• Nashville, Tennessee

11 Apr 22

@Kandae11 Except he doesn't want police it seems.

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@snowy22315 (208831)

• United States

10 Apr 22

As long as the people were friendly, I wouldn't mind.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

We hardly ever saw them.

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@jstory07 (148731)

• Roseburg, Oregon

10 Apr 22

That was good that the snake did not make it into the classroom.

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@jstory07 (148731)

• Roseburg, Oregon

10 Apr 22

@Kandae11 Yes I can. Half the class would be screaming.

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@Juliaacv (56188)

• Canada

10 Apr 22

Seeing a snake coming to my school would have made me drop out forever. I am terrified of snakes, like no other fear, that is my worst.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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11 Apr 22

I think l would definitely have a heart attack if l was confronted by one now. As a child l wasn't too bothered.

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@marlina (154103)

• Canada

10 Apr 22

Snake? No, thank you. Living on an island: again, No thank you!

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

Ha ha. As a child l wasn't too bothered, but as an adult. - no way, that island would have to be snake free. Where l live now the only snakes l am likely to see are in the zoo.

@GreatMartin (23670)

• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

10 Apr 22

We had only human snakes in New York City---Manhattan, also an island!--not easy to get rid of!!

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

Ha ha, the human kind can be dangerous too- - almost like a boa constrictor.

@RasmaSandra (97975)

• Daytona Beach, Florida

10 Apr 22

That is an interesting story, There should always be some police everywhere even if it would only be one sherrif,

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

There were about thirty families on that island scattered all over.The only time l saw the children was during school or when there was an important celebration in the square.

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@JudyEv (381957)

• Rockingham, Australia

10 Apr 22

These superstitions would be very hard to counteract. Did you miss living on the island or did you like the city?

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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10 Apr 22

I was happy when we left the island, it was a lonely place. Thankfully l had my fairytale books - and two sisters.

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@Neil43 (4521)

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11 Apr 22

OMG! Was that deserted island? Security and safety is always my priority when living in a place. I remember here in the school they also caught a small snake.

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@Kandae11 (57233)

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11 Apr 22

This was a large snake. Around 30 families lived on that island.

@jobelbojel (36796)

• Philippines

11 Apr 22

If I were the student, I would shouted on top of lungs and run as fast as I can.

@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

11 Apr 22

I think I’d like the police to be within calling distance. I’d bet the island was fun foe children.

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@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

12 Apr 22

@Kandae11 That sounds a little sad. I usually had friends living near by but not always.

@Kandae11 (57233)

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11 Apr 22

The only time l saw the children was during school hours or if there was something going on in the village square. In fact l never saw any of the homes .We had no neighbors close enough to be seen or heard.

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